Silenced Darkness
by Novel Inkling
Summary: After a close friend went mysteriously missing, it's up to Chili, Mint, and Akari to travel to the Deepsea Metro to face the unspeakable. Along the way, and after the rescue, their limits are tested all the way and meet a couple of new friends. Rated M for language and violence
1. Prolouge

_Deepsea Metro, The Heart... Platform 7_

* * *

_**Wither and Decay...**_

_**End their destinies...**_

_**Make the colors fade...**_

_**And set thy spirits free.**_

The haunting lullaby one sang made the vibrant neon around them dissipate and fade away. The voice echoed through the tunnels and made lights flicker and struggle to stay on.

**_Bring the fate's desire_**

**_Show them no mercy..._**

**_Let their blood be spilled..._**

**_And set the darkness free..._**

The eyes of the one who sang glowed a ghastly green, the white in their eyes gone.

**_The Darkness Free..._**

* * *

_I fell in love with the Hurt Incantation from Tangled. So I decided to use it, change the lyrics to fit Splatoon's World, and that's how I came up with it._

_The Incantation belongs to Disney._

_Splatoon 2 (and Octo Expansion) Belongs to Nintendo_

_This story is only for fun and I wanted to use this as a crazy adventure/story that came to mind._


	2. Chapter 1 Page 1

Chapter 1: The Search

_Warning: This Story is not suitable for the faint of heart. _

_Read at your own risk_

* * *

Arowana mall was very busy that day, an Inkling and an Octoling were sitting at a table, enjoying some cold drinks.

"I've never had these milkshake things before!" Mint commented and smiled. They had zig-zagged tentacles with minty-green ink, and blue at the ends, like their inkling friend across the table. They hold the cup in their hands and looked amazed.

Chili grinned a bit as he ate some chips. "Should see how long you can drink it without stopping." His tentacles don't have the traditional spots, they split into uneven lines that make it look like spots. A pretty chubby inkling, but no pushover. He wears contacts or glasses and a hoodie.

A young Octoling girl had a Frappe in her hand and sits at a table alone and stares at the cup.

"Akari? What are you doing?" Chili called out. "Where's Kira?"

She looked up with tired, somber eyes and came over to them. "She never showed up to work last night..." She told them with a yawn. She had long, curly purple tentacles and goggles atop her head. she wore Neo Octoling armor and neo octoling boots.

Both Mint and Chili looked at each other before Mint says, "Wait, why?"

"I have no idea..." She told them. "I only have her last known location." she sipped her coffee. "I was going to continue this search on my own. I didn't want to bother you guys with something as bad as this..."

"That's fine with me." Chili said with a shrug.

"Chili!" Mint scolded him. "Kira is our friend! She wouldn't leave you in the dark, so why should we?!"

He groaned. "She's always doing stupid shit she's not supposed to."

"Funny considering you do the exact same thing." Akari remarked.

He glared at her. "Touche Akari...Touche."

"Her last known location was her house. I was going to go there later after my 'calm-your-ass-down coffee break.'"

Mint chuckled a bit. "Sounds like something Chili would have."

* * *

Kira's house was a nice, ranch-style home near the city limits.

Chili whistled upon entering. "Someone was a little too eager last night."

The room was a mess. Furniture torn and blood splattered all over the walls. Books were thrown off the shelves and broken glass in certain places.

"What happened here?" Mint asked, petrified by the sight.

Chili growled. "Obviously a struggle occurred. Meaning she put up a fight against her captor and ultimately failed."

"Which scares me..." Commented Akari as she took another look around, "Is that since she's an Agent of the Squidbeaks, is that she was a prime target of the Octarians."

Chili shifted positions as he leaned against the wall that wasn't covered in Kira's blood. "Not an absurd accusation, but it might need to be tweaked a bit."

"How so?"

He pointed to the blood splatters. "The Octarian Army wouldn't be this violent. Meaning Kira's blood was spilt another way."

Akari pointed to a trail, leading to the kitchen and out a torn back door. "Looks like we have a blood trail to follow... But first, we need to figure out who did this and how Kira managed to put up the fight that she did."

Mint looked at the couch, seeing a strange liquid spilled on the cushions. "Chili! Akari! Come here!" They called.

Both came over and examined the splatter, before Akari straight up gagged. "Good god that is retched! What the hell is even that smell!?"

Chili held his nose and groaned. "Smells like piss..."

Mint examined it closer, picking up a small sample with the tips of their fingers. "Looks like..." Their eyes widened. "Sanitary goo..."

Akari's eyes widened. "You don't think the Sanitized Octarians got her, do you?"

Chili examined it alongside Akari. "Looks to be that way."

Akari groaned. "Just fantastic... Looks like its back to the metro for us."

Mint gulped nervously. "A-Are you sure we have to?"

She grabbed her dapple dualies and ink tank, sighing. "I'm not forcing you to come with me, but in case shit hits the fan, I'd like to have some back-up."

Mint stopped themselves and thought. _Kira is our friend after all. Despite Kamabo's bullcrap, I can't leave her down there with those creatures._

"No way am I letting you do this on your own, Akari, I'm in." Mint narrowed their eyes and ran to get their items.

Chili grabbed his Hero Dynamo and grinned a bit. "I was in desperate need to kick someone's ass. Looks like I get to kick an entire army's ass."

"Let's do this Squidbeaks!" Akari shouted and pumped her fist in the air.

* * *

_End of Page 1._

**_*FUN _****_FACTS*_**

_Mint is non-binary. That is why them is used instead of she._

_Chili and Mint belong to an artist I met named Erujayy. Awesome dude._


	3. Chapter 1 Page 2

Page 2: Return to The Metro.

* * *

_Outside the Metro_

* * *

Chili was waiting for Akari and Mint to arrive so that they could go in together. Akari was the first to arrive and holding her Dapple Dualies and wearing some upgraded Neo Armor.

"New Armor?" Chili asked her.

Akari nodded and waited with Chili for Mint.

_Mint is always late, but they always pick the worse time to be late..._

"I'm here!" They called and ran up to them, she looked their friends over before making the comment, "Okay, that's all of us."

"Their ass is grass and we're the lawnmowers!" Akari yelled.

Chili cracked up at Akari's comment. "Good one."

All of them journey down in the metro. But little did they know... The Metro they knew was no longer there.

* * *

_Unknown Location, The Heart_

* * *

Kira opened her eyes and rubbed her head. Groaning, she reluctantly picked herself off the floor. She had a long, wavy tentacle in an Aquamarine color and wore studio headphones, the marinated top and her sneakers.

_Felt like I've been ran over by a Steel Eel... Where the hell am I?_

Looking up, she squinted as a bright light was shined overhead.

"Hello?" She called. "Anyone there?"

Silence. She sat on the ground, her eyes widened as she saw shackles on her ankles and felt a tight sensation around her neck. An iron collar with a chain attached to the back and to the wall.

_Am I being held against my will?! Where am I?!_

Kira began to panic and struggle against her binds to see if she could loosen them.

"Help!" she cried out, struggling to escape. "Chili! Mint! Akari! Please! Anyone?!"

Again, silence. Kira's attempts to reach contact with her friends were in vain. Nothing could hear her... Nothing could help her.

"Please..." She started to sob. "Please help me..."

* * *

_Deepsea Metro, Line A, Main Platform_

* * *

As soon as the three stepped inside the metro, they noticed something amiss. The subway train that was supposed to be waiting for them was no longer in running order. The colors that were once there were completely drained and blood from other places were scattered all pver the place.

"Huh." Chili commented, "This isn't how I imagined for this place to look like after all this time..."

"Guess time really does a number on some things. This metro being one of them." Akari replied.

Suddenly, her face contorts to one in disgust as she has stepped in a puddle of blood. "Ew... Where did all of this even come from?"

"Oh gee, I wonder." He sarcastically replied. He wasn't really disturbed or unnerved by the blood, but still on edge nonetheless.

Mint tries not to think about it, but it's evident that stress is building within them. "I hope Kira's okay..."

The stations around them were completely wrecked. Nothing could be accessed properly, but the only station that was accessible could not even function. The turnstile couldn't open and the weapon provider couldn't even bring up the weapon for that challenge.

"It's busted... No good trying to salvage it." Akari commented before Chili kicked it a few times, unaware of her previous statement.

"Can't do shit here... Let's move on." Chili grunted and lead the group, followed by Akari, then Mint.

As they looked around, they notice that every single station along the line was in the same condition as the other; Destroyed and Busted.

Mint looked back and forth constantly. Their hands shaking and nervous as they look around.

"How far does this even go? Jeez..." he grunted.

They then find a blood trail, leading to a place called, "The Heart."

"Found the blood trail..." Akari whimpered.

Chili crouched down and ran his finger through it. "Sure is fresh..."

Something watched them pass by, curiosity building within them as they smiled. They followed silently and perched themselves atop a stone perch, where their glowing green eyes made contact with poor Mint's.

They stopped in their tracks and started to shake. After a while, the figure leapt over their heads and ran in a different tunnel.

Mint shook and ran ahead to catch up with their friends. "Guys! We're being followed!" They yelled, beads of sweat trickling down their face from fear. "T-There's a t-thing following us..."

* * *

_End of Page 2_


	4. Chapter 1 Page 3

Page 3: Stand thy ground

* * *

_Deepsea Metro, Line A, Junction between The Heart and Main Platform._

* * *

Chili rolled his eyes. "And I thought I was the one with hallucinations. There's nothing here."

Mint stammered. "B-But I saw it!"

Akari placed a hand on their shoulders, trying to soothe them. "It's probably a figment of your imagination playing tricks on you, Mint. The Metro knows how to screw with people. Myself included."

Akari's ears perked up as she heard bare feet running against concrete.

"Did you guys hear that?" Akari asked, holding her dualies tightly.

Chili grabbed his Hero Dynamo roller from the straps holding them in place and held it tightly. "Keep your guard up. We don't know what kind of hell we'll be up against."

The figure landed right in front of them and stood up. Their eyes glowing green.

"Stand back!" Chili yelled and swung.

The figure leaped out of the way and proceeded to walk forward.

Akari started to shake, "Chili... Chili we need to run!"

Mint whimpered and shook as they hid behind Akari and followed in her footsteps. Both backed away from the figure, while Chili stood his ground.

"Come at me shithead! I'm ready to fucking splat you!"

The figure stopped and held out her hands. "Please, I mean no harm to any of you..."

* * *

_Unknown Location, The Heart._

* * *

Kira sat on the floor and fidgeted with the chains.

_Great, just fan-fucking-tastic. Trapped here. No food. No drink. And no friends._

A door swung open and stood a tall figure with gold eyes.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" She asked.

They approached her and sniffed her.

"Um... Hi?" She asked, confused.

He looked at her. "You're new. You smell new! Who are you? I'm Kyrun! Nice to meet you!"

* * *

_End of Chapter 1_

_These are made like you would read a comic book. _

_Again, Erujayy owns Mint and Chili._


	5. Chapter 2 Page 1

Chapter 2: The Unknown

* * *

_Junction between The Heart and Line A_

* * *

Chili narrowed his eyes. "Fucking liar."

The figure still kept their hands raised. "Please hear me out... I heard voices down here and came to investigate. There hasn't been anyone down here in years..." They debated.

Mint raised a curious eyebrow. "How do you know that?" They asked, still hiding behind Akari. "The stations around here have been completely wrecked!"

The figure glanced around. "I never journey beyond the entrance to the tunnels. It's forbidden." They told them.

"Who are you?" Akari asked.

The figure pulled off their hood and let their tentacles fall out from the hood. Her tentacles were long and black, with red fading in at the ends.

"My name's Misery." She introduced.

Chili looked her over. "Fits yer look." He commented.

"We're looking for our friend... She mysteriously vanished from our city and we were wondering if you've seen her?" Akari asked, and, to their detriment, Misery shook her head.

"I'm very sorry... But maybe I can help you look for her?" She offered.

"That would be won-"

Chili grunted. "No thanks."

"WHAT?!" Both Mint and Akari said, flabbergasted.

Akari glared at Chili. "You arrogant asshole, are you seriously denying help?!"

He pulled her aside and whispered. "You're putting our lives in the hand of a sewer-maiden whose lived here like a hermit, all because of Kira? I think we're better off alone."

"It's better than using blind faith to guide us to her. We don't even know where we're going." She said through gritted teeth.

Chili pushed her aside and grunted. "You make me seem like a push-over... Fine." He gave a murderous glare to Misery. "You try anything, and I'll crush yer head like a melon. Got it sweet-cheeks?"

Misery pulled at her collar and gulped nervously. "O-Of course... This way." She walked down the pathway.

Mint watched Misery's movements closely and wondered, _She's been down here for years? Something tells me she's not telling us everything. I wonder why...?_

Akari looked at Misery and thought to herself. _Misery might not be the first option, but it's the more reliable one. Besides, Chili's arrogance and pride will get us into a lot more trouble if I let him have his way._

Chili put his hands behind his neck and walked, following Misery. _I don't trust this. Something about Misery seems fishy. She's nice? She's weaponless? Load of shit if ya ask me. Doesn't hurt to keep your guard up._

He pulled out an old photo of him and Kira and looked at it. Kira had long, wavy tentacles in an aquamarine color, wearing the standard hero armor and holding a pair of hero dualies, while Chili is in the background in his hero gear, holding his hero dynamo roller like a badass. The picture is labeled, **First Mission with Agent Kira.**

He sighed and quietly muttered, "Please be okay, Kira. I can't afford to lose you."

* * *

_End of Page 1_


	6. Chapter 2 Page 2

Page 2: A touch of torture

* * *

Kira positioned herself against the wall and looked at the strange creature. 'Kyrun' as he called himself, had gold eyes and a bunch of black speckles over his skin. His ears were jagged and two small fangs protruded from his mouth. He had shaggy tentacles in a navy hue.

"My name is Kira. Do you know where I am?" She asked curiously.

Kyrun nodded eagerly. "You're in NeoBright Central! The coolest place in the world!"

She raised an eyebrow at the boy. "I doubt being kidnapped is the best thing ever..."

He whimpered. "I know. But it really is nice once you get past that part.."

"Then you'd get me outta here. Right?" She asked a little too eagerly.

He sighed. "I'm sorry, but no... But I can make your stay here as comfy as possible."

Kira groaned inwardly. "I'm never getting out of here..." She yelped as Kyrun hugged her. She then noticed he had a long black furred tail that swept back and forth.

_I didn't know Inklings could grow tails. Could be a deformity of some sort._

"It's so nice to have a friendly surfacer to talk to." He smiled. "You're really cute!"

Kira blushed and rubbed her neck. "O-Oh... Well..."

"Kyrun, get back here!" A more harsh voice yelled.

He whimpered and came back to the figure. "S-Sorry M-Madame Allison..."

She glared at the figure. _She sounds absolutely wonderful._

"Welcome to your personal hell, Inkling... You'll love your time here." Madame commented.

_...Shit._

* * *

Misery set some food down and made a fire around a small platform. "We should be safe here for the night."

Chili positioned himself against the wall and grumbled as he had a chocolate bar in his hand. "Yeah right."

Mint and Akari enjoyed talking to Misery, learning a lot about her and making good use of the time.

"So what kind of tech does your kind use?" Mint wondered.

Misery sat back, adjusting her uniform. The uniform she wore was what the Octolings wore in the Octo Expansion. She picked up an old one and wore it, Neo Octoling boots and a Splatoon hairpin. "Well, we have a mixture of different tech. To name them all would be hellish on my voice."

Both looked at each other and grinned wide.

"Are there robots?" Akari asked and grinned more as she saw the hybrid nod.

Misery chuckled as well and took a sip of some soda. "Of course there are robots. They make our lives ten times better. Even the poor have a good home to live in."

"The economy is that good?" Mint wondered.

She once again nodded. "Oh yeah. Despite living in the underground metro, we've made the use of our resources. Hell, if you ever want some extra cash..." She pointed towards a few tunnels lit with lights. "In there you can do certain challenges, test your skills, and get some money out of it. Provides a good workout."

"And it's free to do?"

Misery laughed. "Yeah. I mean, why else would we have advertised that throughout the entire city?"

Mint and Akari looked at Misery in shock. "You live in an underground city?!" They both asked, and the hybrid, who's getting a kick out of it, laughs at their shock.

"Yep. There's definitely more of my people here. We even have a secret police force called The Dark League."

Chili sat up upon hearing her say those words. "Really?"

Akari snickered. "Looks whose finally interested in Misery over here."

Chili grunted and came closer. "Just because I'm bored."

"You're such a terrible liar Chili." Mint, Akari, Chili, and Misery all shared a laugh, but deep down, Chili was worried about his close friend.

The hybrid grinned and started talking about her greatest feats. "There was this one time this dude was making off with, like 150,000 dollars cash! He had a rapid blaster/ dualie weapon and tried making off with it in tow, but me with my Elite Splatterscope preformed a headshot! BAM!" She made the motion and leapt onto the bench. "Splatted the dude from 130 feet away!"

Chili snickered. "Ain't no way that's possible. Mint can't even do that and they're a charger user."

Mint shot a look at Chili and he laughed a bit. "I'm offended."

Akari smiled. "What happened next? The suspense is killing me!"

"Okay, Okay, I'll tell you." Misery told them some stories about some legends she heard as a hatchling.

By the time she finished telling her legends, Akari had fallen asleep and Mint had fallen asleep on Chili. All that's left awake was Misery and Chili.

"Why do you want to help us?" Chili asked in a low voice. "You're not an Inkling nor an Octoling, and your story just doesn't seem to add up."

Misery sighed. "You three are the first people I've made contact with who weren't from this metro. You're new. You've been to a place I'm forbidden to even be at, or even go near."

He looked away and kept looking over his friends.

"I understand why you wouldn't trust me." She commented after a while. "You just met me... You saw me as a threat, and you're looking for your friend."

He raised an eyebrow. "What's the catch?"

"I just want you to trust me."

* * *

_End of Page 2_


	7. Chapter 2 Page 3

Page 3: Only Hope.

* * *

"Trust you? Trust You?!" He almost woke his friends up with the way he said it, before he chuckled bitterly. "You're something else, ya know? Like I'd ever let my friends trust a complete stranger like yourself."

Misery looked at him. "You care about her, right?"

His expression lightened up as he heard her talk about Kira.

"She's obviously someone you love. Like family, right?"

He sighed and teared up a bit. "Kira was one out of the only three to ever love me for who I am. Mint, Julie... and her."

* * *

_3 years ago, Octo Canyon. Tentakeel Outpost_

* * *

Marie looked up as Chili approached. "Hello Agent 3. As you may have heard, a new Agent has joined us in our cause. Meet Agent Kira."

Kira approached them with her hero dualies in hand, twirling them nonchalantly as she came up. Her tentacles matched Chili's color and her eyes shined with enthusiasm. "Agent 3, right?"

He nodded. "Alright newbie, just don't fall too far behind and don't get splatted, ya hear me?"

She grinned. "Gotcha bud!"

* * *

Chili looked up and his eyes widened. "What the fuck are you doing, Kira?! Get down! Yer going to get yerself killed!"

Kira was riding an ink rail, shooting at the octarians and almost splatted. She threw bombs and shot wildly, managing to kill the wave and repair her hero armor.

"What the hell were you thinking, dipshit!?" He yelled. "You could've killed yerself!"

She glared at him. "I was taking initiative!"

"That initiative could've killed you! What the hell were you thinking?!"

"I..." She sighed. "I just wanted to impress you."

"Wha?" He looked at her, flabbergasted.

She rubbed her arm and looked at him. "You're such a cool guy, Agent 3. You're strong and sarcastic, and you're a bastard. You and I... We kinda relate."

He raised an eyebrow as he heard her speak. _Bastard isn't the kind of quality I think would be liked by people, but whatever floats her boat, I guess._

Kira smiled a bit. "Let's finish this level with a bang, Agent!"

"Just... Call me Chili."

* * *

Misery looked at him. "So is she... Like family to you?"

"Well, duh. She's the one person who took initiative, was confident in herself and in me, and helped cover for me in the most dangerous situations. If anything, she... She's a sister to me."

Misery smiled. "I see. So you love her."

"Wha-what?! N-Not like that!" He protested.

She smirked. "Some squid over here has a tough outer shell and a precious soft spot!"

Chili blushed in embarrassment, and Misery chuckled.

"Having family like that is the best kind of family you can ever receive... Treasure that while you still can..." She sighed and turned away from the inkling to return to her night watch.

_She's right... Kira is like a sister to me... So is Mint, Akari, and Julie. I never really thought about it like that before. Please be okay Kira..._

**_I don't know what I'd do without you here..._**

* * *

Kira groaned as she fell down and spit out some blood. Her old gear was switched out for a black, skintight jumpsuit with aquamarine lines, and her headgear was confiscated.

Madame chuckled. "Now that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Fuck you, shit-head!" She shouted as she lied on the floor.

She grinned at her hurt enemy. "Such an interesting creature."

Kyrun looked at his friend in pity.

"Please don't tell me you feel emotions for this wretched Inkling, do you?"

He whimpered. "N-No ma'am..."

"Good, Good..." And she walked away with some blood in hand from her prisoner.

Kyrun looked at Kira with sadness. "Don't worry Kira, I'll get you outta here..."

"How?"

Kyrun's eyes glowed and the whites of the eyes turned black. "Stand back!" And he lifted his claws, and ripped the door off it's hinges.

* * *

_End of Chapter 2_

_Don't forget to leave a review if you liked the story._

_Mint and Chili belong to Erujayy!_


	8. Chapter 3 Page 1

Chapter 3: On the Run

* * *

Kira stared at Kyrun in awe. "How'd you do that?!"

Kyrun threw the door aside and into the men. "No time! C'mon Kira! I need to get ya outta here!" He grabbed her by the hand with his own and both ran down the opposite corridor.

Madame growled. "Do not let my experiment escape!" She yelled and ordered her troops to attack them and both darted down the halls. Kyrun running on all fours and breathing hard, trying his best not to out-speed his wounded friend.

Kira managed to keep up with Kyrun and both ran out the doors and dashed towards the downtown area.

"We'll lose them in the square!" He yelped.

Kira nodded. "I trust you, Kyru!"

Both ran into the colorfully lit plaza and ran for their lives through the crowded streets.

They both yelped on occasion for running into the people at times and both kept looking behind to see if they were followed.

_Wonder how my friends will react to this wild story? Running away from some wackos and completely covered in bloody bruises..._

After hours, it seemed, both stopped running and hid away in an abandoned building in the city.

"We should be safe here." He commented. "No one but me knows about this place.

Kira leaned against the wall, panting and heaving. "Cod, my legs feel like jello!"

Kyrun sighed and perched up onto a chair with his hands and feet touching the cushion. "I know, and I'm sorry, but I had no choice."

She looked at him curiously. "Say... What are you exactly?"

He smiled, revealing some sharp canines. "Isn't it obvious? I'm a Dark Xeno Inkling."

Kira looked astounded. "You shitting me?"

She then saw the clear resemblance. He was covered in freckles, his eyes were a handsome shade of gold/amber. His ears were pointed and curved. His tentacles were all over the place, falling in his eyes. He had the sharp claws and more curved feet.

"A Xeno! I should've known!" She yelped.

He whimpered. "Please don't leave just because I am one..."

"Are you kidding me right now dude? I wouldn't want to leave for the world. You're awesome!" She commented.

Kyrun raised an eyebrow and plopped next to her on the floor, his tail twitching. "So why'd ya say that?"

"Because one of my friends has a little sister who's just like you." She smiled as his eyes lit up and his tail wagged happily.

"Oh my gosh! Really!? I've always wanted a friend! Can I meet her? Please? PLEEEEEAAAASE?" He pleaded.

Kira laughed at his reaction and gave him a hug. "Once we get to Inkopolis, sure thing bud."

"Yay! I'm gonna make soooo many new friends! I can't wait to love on each and every one of them!" He smiled wide and his tail wagged more and more, he jumped around happily and grabbed some paper, doodling what Julie might look like.

_This kid is so sweet... Julie is gonna love him. _She turned away. _Although... Chili might not even consider it due to him being a dark inkling. Maybe I can get him to change his mind once he sees how freaking adorable this kid is._

* * *

The atmosphere was quiet in the abandoned building they were in. Kyrun and Kira had curled up to one another and slept peacefully. Kyrun hugging her and his friend curled up against his warm body.

Suddenly, a loud noise woke them up.

He growled at the darkness and bared his fangs. "Whose there?!"

Silence...

"Kyru? What's going on?" Kira asked groggily.

He grunted. "Someone's in here with us that shouldn't be..."

"We should get outta here then..." She commented quietly.

"Kira! Kira, are you in here?!" A worried voice called out.

_Shit! It knows my name! It has to be those scientist dudes!_

Kyrun showed her a hole their size. "Quickly! Through here!" He whispered and both crawled out, making their way out of their small lair and out into the woods, running away from the threat.

* * *

_End of Page 1_


	9. Chapter 3 Page 2

Page 2: Too late to count your blessings

* * *

Mint stepped through the rubble in discomfort and called out, "Kira! Kira are you here?"

Akari and Misery inspected the rubble more thoroughly, while Chili just kicked it around and half-assed his work.

"We must be too late..." Misery commented. "They must have seen us coming and moved her to another location."

Akari pulled out her laptop and tried searching for Kira's Agent Visor. "Let's see if her Visor can't pull up an SOS signal..." She muttered and rapidly typed on the computer, sitting down on a random chair.

"Like we'll find her here... Garbage if you ask me..." Chili replied rudely

Akari's eyes widened with relief. "Good news, looks like she's escaping!"

"What's the bad news?" Mint asked.

Akari turned her laptop and saw the glowing gold eyes. "A Monster is after her!"

Chili grabbed his dynamo bag and growled. "Not for long they're not. Where the hell is she?"

Akari showed him. "They're heading towards a lush area of woods."

"Then that's where we go to get her."

* * *

Kira and Kyrun both collapsed on the ground near the river in a lush forrest.

"Kyrun..." she panted. "We need to stop here and rest, my lungs can't take any more pressure!"

He looked up and nodded. "I...Agree..."

Both set up a warm campfire and a temporary sleeping space.

"Why do those crazy people want me?" Kira asked curiously.

He shrugged. "I honestly don't know. But whatever they want, they won't stop until they get to you..."

"And I can't even figure out why-"

Kira was interrupted by a rustling in the bushes.

_Oh no! They followed us! Cod, why can't my life go right for once?! _She thought with a groan.

Kyrun extended his claws, bared his fangs and snarled. "Come out you wuss! I'm not afraid to tear you into pieces!"

They saw a chubby inkling figure walk towards them.

Kira backed up a bit in fear, as Kyrun stood his ground.

"YOU ASKED FOR IT NOW PUNK!" He leapt on with a growl and started to try and maul him, but the figure attempted to get him off.

"Get off of me you little shit!" It yelled.

Kira's eyes widened and she stopped in her tracks. "Chili?!"

* * *

Madame removed the papers from her desk and growled. "That damn Xeno! Freeing my host!"

She stared intently at the papers, with a formula for recreating TarTar's sanitized ink.

_This will be exactly what I need to put my plans into motion..._

A black goo, screeched and grumbled in its container, she walked over and stroked the lid, the goo attracted to her.

"Worry not my dear pet... You will have your host in no-time..." She cooed.

_Those naive squidbeaks... They thought they got rid of me... But they didn't._

She turned around, revealing her glowing dark green eyes and the whites of her eyes black.

_I will return and make Inkopolis bow before the darkness! My envisioned world will become reality!_

_The Xenos will be exterminated! The world? Flawless!_

_**I shall return and make them all PAY!**_

* * *

_Sorry about this chapter not being so long as the others, but I need to take a little break from writing and recharge._

_Chapter 4 will come sometime in the following week or so!_


	10. Chapter 4 Page 1

Chapter 4: Reunited with a Twist

* * *

Kira looked amazed. "Chili! Oh my cod, you're here!" She ran up to him and hugged him tight, and, surprising, so did he, making her face go red.

Then she received a push from Chili. "Don't ever fucking scare me like that again, dumbass!"

"Don't scare you?! You're one to talk considering you were stalking us in the woods!" She retorted.

"...True. Now will you get this damn kid off?!" He yelled.

"Kyrun, get off of him. he's a friend of mine." She told her Xeno friend.

He grumbled and got off of Chili and sat next to Kira.

Mint, Akari, and Misery came through the bushes next.

"Enemies?!" Kyrun snarled.

Misery growled back. "Kyrun, you dummy, you don't even recognize your own sister?!"

"You two are siblings?" Both Chili and Kira asked at the same time.

Both looked at their friends and sighed. "It's complicated."

Misery straightened out and grunted. "Now we found your friend, how 'bout we go and get you guys rested up before you guys head back up to the surface, eh?"

"No thanks. I've spent waaaay too much time down here as is, I'm going home." Chili replied irritably.

Mint grabbed his arm. "Wait, Chili! Don't you have something to say to Misery and Kyrun?" They wondered.

"Go fuck yourselves." He raised the middle finger at the two and left, dragging a confused Kira home. "C'mon Kira, we've got some talking to do."

Mint frowned and looked at Mis, shaking her hand. "Thank you so much Misery. We really appreciate the help."

"No prob. Just shoot me a text whenever ya wanna talk to me." That's when Kyrun and Misery headed home, while Kira, Chili, Mint and Akari headed back to the surface.

* * *

_Akari's House_

* * *

After Kira explained everything, she talked with Chili about Kyrun.

"He's such a sweet kid. Betcha Julie would love a Xeno friend to play with." She told him with a smile.

He groaned and laid back, slice of pizza in hand and not giving a single fuck in the world. "He's not welcome. And no, he won't be around Julie 'till she's a bit older."

"...You do realize she's eleven, right? She may act like a six year-old, but sometimes, she's more mature than you'll ever be." She snickered at the remark.

Chili sat up and gave an offended look. "I'll have you know I'm raising the kid, right?"

"I'll also have you know that you need Akari and I to come over so we can help you pay your damn taxes, right?"

Chili was silent and grumbled. "Fair point..."

Kira sat upright and held her stomach with one hand, and her mouth with the other. "Hold up..." She ran into the bathroom and threw up, making an irritating and gross noise. "Cod-Damnit Crusty Sean! I told him not to add the onions to that pizza! He knows damn right I can't tolerate it!"

Chili looked at the box. "Kira? This is cheese.."

"Wait, the fuck?! You serious!?" She yelled.

"Yeah."

She groaned. "Ugh..."

* * *

A few hours later, Kira was admitted to a bed in Akari's spare bedroom after she threw up blood twice. Her sweat rolled down her face and her breathing was shallow.

"You don't think it was the food, Akari?" Mint wondered.

She shook her head. "Nope. Kira loves cheese pizza more than ever. It wouldn't make her sick."

Chili leaned back and looked concerned for his friend.

_What did they do to her? She's not feeling well, and she's got scrapes all over her._

"Hmm... Let's monitor her tonight and see where we are tomorrow."

Akari and Chili nodded, letting their friend be for the night.

* * *

Kira tossed and turned in her bed, shutting her eyes tightly and groaning.

_**The Dream...**_

_Kira woke to see herself strapped down on some sort of device. Her friends, bound by chains, gags in their mouths, and all desperately trying to break free._

**_"You will do nicely. Now hold still..."_**

**_"No! Please! Let me go!"_**_ Kira cried out, and yelped as she was pricked._

Kira sat upright and yelped, seeing her arm oozing with her blood.

_What the actual fuck!? My dream was some-what real?! Oh Cod... oh Cod!_

She ran to the bathroom, where she stared in the mirror and saw her eyes. Her eyes were glowing purple with the whites of the eyes black as midnight.

"Oh my cod! No!" She yelled and ran out, hiding herself in the closet, breathing hard.

_This isn't real... It can't be... You'll be fine..._

She felt a pair of hands grab hold of her, she screamed and busted out of the closet. "Get the fuck away from me!"

Akari ran in with a horrified look. "Kira are you- holy shit!" She yelled as she saw Kira's terrifying eyes.

"Get away!"

"Kira, why are you like this? Please get back in bed..."

She yelled and pulled out her dagger. "I said get away demon!"

From Kira's eyes, Akari was a monster with razor sharp teeth and glowing eyes. Her claws were long and her voice dark and demonic. _"Come back with me to the Darkness where you belong!" _It's voice cooed.

"No... Nononono... Get the fuck away!" She backed herself in a corner and started to shake, sobbing. "Please leave... Please leave..."

"Kira, It's going to be okay... _I only want to kill you..._" It switched back and forth between her cooing and lusting for her blood.

_**"CHILI! MINT! AKARI! SOMEONE! ANYONE!" **_Kira screamed through her broken sobs.

_**"HELP ME!"**_

* * *

_End of Page 1._

_I will now be doing an upload schedule of one page every so often._

_Hope you're not getting too freaked out_

_Because the crazy ride has only begun. It will only get crazier from here._

_Shout out to my cool dude Erujayy for allowing me to use their characters Mint and Chili._


	11. Chapter 4 Page 2

Page 2: The First Attack

* * *

"Kira, please!" Akari yelped.

Kira kept sobbing and crying, begging for Chili and Mint to help her.

Akari finally called Mint, but went straight to voice mail. "Mint... Its Akari, sorry to bother you so late... But Kira is acting really strange, it's starting to scare me... If you and Chili can get to my house as soon as you can, that would be great... Thanks. Bye."

Kira pulled her knees to her chest and covered her head. "I don't wanna go... You can't make me..." She whimpered.

"Please... I'm a friend, Kira. Trust me..." She lended her hand. "I just need to do something..."

The terrified inkling shook her head. "No... No, I can't..."

Akari remained calm and kept her hand out. "Please trust me." She asked again.

Kira sniffled and took her hand, before being led to a glass chamber, with a bed. Akari got her inside and placed things on her to monitor her and restrain her from causing damage; Placing cuffs over her wrists and a collar around her neck. It had a pulse detector within them, so she could safely monitor Kira.

"W-Wait...! You tricked me!" She finally realized it and banged on the glass. "Let me out! Let me out!"

Akari gave her a look. "Not until my friends arrive."

Kira's eyes widened. "W-What are you going t-to do to me?"

Akari stared at her. "To see what's wrong with you..."

What did Kira hear exactly? She heard, "_To dismember you limb by limb... And find where the best place to feast shall be..."_

Kira started screaming bloody murder and sobbing more, banging on the glass and scratching at it. "Let me out! This can't be happening to me!"

Akari watched with horror as she taped the panic attack for evidence. _Kira was never like this before. Why is she acting like this now? _She thought.

The terrified inkling sank to the floor and choked on her tears.

**_"Chili...? Where are you?_**

**_I need you more than ever right now..."_**

Akari's heart had never hurt more than it did that night. Watching one of her best friends suffering greatly was the biggest heartache of all...

* * *

_End of Page 2..._

_Sorry for the short chapter, I was running out of ideas for this._

_Any suggestions for what you want to happen next? Leave it in your review and it may be in the next segment!_

_Page 3 coming soon_


	12. Chapter 4 Page 3

Page 3: The Next Morning

* * *

Mint woke up bright and early, stretching out with a smile. "Aaahhh... That was such a nice night." They commented and looked at their phone, where they missed a call from Akari late at night.

"_Mint... It's Akari, sorry to bother you so late, but Kira is acting really strange and it's scaring me... If you and Chili could get here as soon as possible, that'd be great. Thanks. Bye."_

Mint looked horrified, got dressed, and sprinted to Chili's house, busting down the door on a sleeping Chili and startling him awake. "Chili! Something's wrong with Kira and Akari wants us to get to her house now!

"OOF!" He yelped as he fell off the couch and rubbed his face. "It's too fucking early for this shit Mint... Now..." He sat up and put his glasses on. "What did ya need?"

"She's not herself... Akari called me late last night to tell me."

Chili's eyes widened and he got up and started to leave for Akari's. "Let's go."

* * *

Once they got to her place, Akari was on the floor, passed out from exhaustion and Kira still sitting in the box, back against the glass wall and head buried in her knees, shaking violently.

"Kari!" Mint yelped and shook her awake. "Kari, are you okay?"

She groaned."Wha...?"

Chili peeked inside the glass enclosure Kira was in and his concern for her sky rocketed. _Cod... Kira what did those fuckers do to you?_

She looked up and backed away from them as far as she could. "No! No! I don't want to die! PLEASE!"

Mint approached cautiously. "Kira...?" Mint, to her, looked like a monster with wings, razor sharp teeth and claws, pointed ears and cat's eyes. _"You'll do nicely for us..."_

"No! No I-It can't be!" She screamed.

Chili pushed Mint aside gently and slowly approached.

Kira felt a little more calm. "Ch-Chili...? Is that you?" Her face stained with tears and her eyes still black and purple.

"It's me, dipshit." He told her with a faint smile, trying to be welcoming.

She got up and almost ran to him, but then stopped in her tracks and backed up. "No... Not you too..." She fell onto her side and started to sob again, her voice now going hoarse from screaming and crying. Chili looked down right nasty to her, his tentacles curling up, his eyes glowing and a roller in hand. A sadistic grin with razor sharp teeth crossed his face and he approached her again. "_Come here and I'll make your death painless._"

"No! It wasn't supposed to be like this!" She cried. "You killed them! You killed my friends you rat bastards!"

"This is why I called you." She motioned for him to get out and reviewed her evidence recorded from that night. "She's having a night terror and I can't seem to pinpoint where it came from."

He stepped out, trying to hide his sadness from Akari and Mint. _Whatever they did to you... I'll make sure they pay for this Kira..._

"Those damned undergrounders..." Chili remarked. "Must've infected Kira."

Mint looked worried. "That can't be right... She can't have the same thing as Chili, could she?"

"Well, I need either one of you to call your special doctor to look into Kira's behavior. We need it more than ever." Akari mentioned

Kira finally stopped crying after a few minutes and passed out on the floor. Chili moved her to the bed and gave her the blankets provided.

Mint called their special doctor, leaving Akari and Chili to talk.

"Why is she acting like this?" She asked herself.

Chili sat down at a chair and motioned towards his unconscious friend. "I don't want to say it, but she might have something similar to what I have."

"No..." She gasped. "She can't have it... TarTar was destroyed at the metro. There's no way that's possible."

He grunted and fixed his glasses. "We'll just have to see what Jacob has to say about it."

"And I hope it's not this terrible thing. I... I don't want Kira to suffer." She mentioned.

He sighed, muttering, "Me either...She's too much of a good person to go through that awful shit."

"What was that?"

"Get off my fucking case, okay Akari?!" He yelled.

Suddenly there was a shattering noise and in the living room, stood a black blob of slime, and it morphed into Chili. The eyes were much darker than Chili's and his tentacles were black. He grabbed a Shadow Dynamo it had equipped and swung it. "Where is she?" It/he asked.

* * *

**End Of Chapter 4**

_Okay guys, I'll now be doing an upload schedule of 1 page to maybe a full chapter per day. Things are starting to calm down a bit for the time being, so uploads will be much swifter. Chapter 5 Page 1 might be out today, assuming I have time._

_Thank you all for reading up to this point._

_Don't forget to leave a review! It's always nice to read what you guys have to say!_


	13. Chapter 5 Page 1

Chapter 5: Misery's Return

* * *

Chili slung out his dynamo and growled. "She ain't goin' anywhere fucker. Back off before I crush you."

It grinned. "Have it your way, mortal." It screeched and lunged at Chili with impeccable speed and force, making Chili switch to the defensive and swing his Dynamo in an upper-cut fashion.

It grunted before extending its claws. "You'll pay for interrupting my work!"

"Try me, shit-head!" He yelled and started to punch the shit out of the figure.

Mint tried to help, but ended up getting pushed on the couch.

Akari grabbed her Splattershot, got behind the figure and placed it against it's head. "Splat, Bitch!" And destroyed the creature from behind.

Chili got up and rubbed his head. "Thanks, Akari."

"No prob." Before she was dragged down by the creature, who had turned into Mint now. "What the hell?!"

It's tentacles wrapped around her throat and started to choke her before grinning sadistically. "I wouldn't come any closer if I were you." It cooed in Mint's voice, which was really creepy. "One wrong move and I decapitate her."

Akari gagged and struggled. "Please...Let... Go..." She struggled to say.

It yelped again before letting go of Akari as something unseen had hit it. "Who hit me?!" It growled.

Misery stepped out from the shadows, holding her Elite Splatterscope Deluxe. It was a sleek model that was black and faded to pink at the end. "Looking for someone?"

It shrieked. "YOU! I'm going to maul you!"

She grinned and her eyes turned black and green, she threw up a shield around the others and her tentacles wrapped around it. "You wanna know what I do to bad little souls like yourself?"

She took a deep breath, her eyes going completely black, her tentacles turning black too as she started to sing a haunting melody.

_**Wither and Decay...**_

_**End their destinies...**_

_**Make the colors fade...**_

_**And set thy spirits free.**_

Her voice echoed and chilled the others, while draining the life out of her victim. She continued to suffocate it and draining its life from it.

**_Bring the fate's desire_**

**_Show them no mercy..._**

**_Let their blood be spilled..._**

**_And set the darkness free..._**

**_The Darkness Free..._**

The corpse of the creature was dropped onto the ground and she returned to normal. Her whites of her eyes coming back, and her tentacles returning to their natural color of crimson red.

The others watched with terrified expressions on their faces as she removed the shield. "That's taken care of."

"Wh-wh-WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" Chili asked, trying to calm down.

Misery's tentacles curled up and she tried hiding her face as she realized what she had just done. "Oh my cod, I am so sorry you had to see that... I-I acted impulsively..."

Mint was really shooken up by it too. "What the heck was that even?!"

Misery sighed. "Its called _The Death Incantation._"

* * *

End of Page 1


	14. Chapter 5 Page 2

Page 2: Trust

* * *

Akari was shaken from the sight, clinging onto Mint and Mint clinging on to her.

Chili glared at Misery. "All the more reason I should splat you too!" He pulled his dynamo and she pulled the splatterscope.

"I wouldn't recommend doing that." She said coldly. "I have this Splatterscope aimed directly at the central nerve point. I shoot that and you'll collapse like a row of dominoes. Don't try me when all I'm trying to do is help you."

He growled lowly and stepped down.

Mint and Akari both calmed down and Mint smiled. "Thanks so much for that Misery. We owe you big time." They told her.

"Save your breath for right now, Peppermint." She said in a stressed way. "I heard about your friend. Can I see her?"

"No you may not." Chili growled.

Mint elbowed him in the ribs, making him grunt. "We need your help, please." They begged. "Kira's never acted like this before and we need to figure out what's wrong with her."

Misery grinned. "Leave it to me!" and ran into the lab, making the others follow.

Kira had broken the enclosure she was in and was holding her Hero Replica Roller. "You little fuckers thought you could keep me, eh?!" She pointed it towards the group with her eyes glowing bright and baring her teeth at them. "I'm not having it!"

Misery switched the ink she had in the Splatterscope's chamber to low-tide ink, something Chili recognized from the Callie and Octavio fight.

_How'd she even get a hold of some of that ink?_

"One shot of this into your friend's head and she'll be out like a light in ten seconds flat." She commented and aimed.

Kira swung the roller and almost hit her friends. "You fucking demons can't hold me!" FOR I AM AN AGENT OF THE SQUIDBEAKS!"

Misery shot the ink at Kira, but she leapt out of the way and threw a bomb.

"Get down!" Chili yelled and pushed them out of the bomb's way.

She laughed. "What?! You fucking scared of me now?! Come at me you little assholes and fight me like men!"

Mint clutched their octoshot tightly and shivered. "What do we do?!"

Chili handled their dynamo and got up. "Stay here and I'll deal with her."

He got up and faced her. "Kira, listen to me... This isn't like you. Settle down and we can work things out."

She laughed. "You think you can win me over using your so-called "reasoning?" Well, I'm not having it!"

Chili looked at her with sad eyes and swung his dynamo. "I'll try and not splat you, Kira... But if I have to fight you to get you back to your senses...

**"So be it."**

* * *

End of Page 2


	15. Chapter 5 Page 3

Page 3: See No Evil

* * *

Misery gave Mint some low-tide ink and nodded to them. "If your friend gets close enough to you two, shoot this at her head."

They nodded at her with a confident smile.

"Chili!" She called out. "Get her to squidform and trap her!"

He nodded and got a make-shift bag ready to use to hold his delusional friend in.

Kira kept her defense up and was prepared to swing.

Chili then remembered the photo he had in his hoodie pocket and held it up. "Kira, don't you recognize me?"

Kira's eyes faded back to normal as she relaxed, seeing Chili for himself. "C-Chili? Is that you?"

"Yeah. Who else would it be retard?" He snickered, and yelped as she hugged him.

"I missed you... I was so scared..." She whimpered as she was comforted by Chili.

Misery unequipped her weapon. "Looks like that's taken care of. Was honestly looking forward to a battle..." She muttered.

* * *

Kira sat with her group and explained what she saw. "...And then you all looked like you were gonna fucking maul me..." She sipped some tea Mint brewed earlier to calm herself down.

"How did it even happen?" Akari wondered.

Kira huffed and got comfy on the couch. "Well... I felt something prick at my skin... And then... everything was a blur from there."

Mint's eyes widened as she saw the wound. "Kira! Your neck!"

"Huh?" She got a mirror and pointed it towards the wound. "Oh shit."

Mint rushed her to the bathroom. "Come on, we need to get that patched up right now!"

"Mint, I'm fine. Honestly." She told them, but they refused to let her go.

"You need those wounds treated. Come on." They drug her to the bathroom, and Kira was trying to resist, but her body ultimately gave up on her and she couldn't do much.

"MINT!" Kira shouted and the others laughed.

Chili shot a sharp look at Misery, who was sitting on the chair with her cup of tea in her hand.

"Why'd you even come here?" He asked. "I thought I made it clear I didn't want to see you here."

Misery set her tea down and pulled out a file. "There's been a problem regarding a sentient parasitic being called by The Shadow Parasite. It's a being that can morph and transform into other people. I believe what your friend..."

"Akari." She told Misery.

"Akari was saying that your friend was acting psychotic and very unstable. She might have been infected with said parasite."

Akari gave Misery a worried look. "Is Kira in any danger?"

Chili sat up to listen to what the dark inkling had to say.

"Your friend is in_ grave_ trouble..."

* * *

End of Chapter 5


	16. Chapter 6 Page 1

Chapter 6: Finding the Cure

* * *

Akari nearly fainted upon hearing that news, and Chili got defensive. "I blame all of this on you!" He snarled.

"Excuse the piss outta me for trying to save your friend's life!" Misery retorted.

He kept his focus on her. "She wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for your damn shadow inkling kind!"

Akari's mouth opened in shock. "Chili!"

Misery backed down and slung her splatterscope over her back in agitation. "It's obvious I'm no longer welcomed here... I'll be taking my leave." She stood at the doorway, before saying to Chili,

"If your friend dies... _**Don't blame me for the loss.**_" And left them there in silence

Chili relaxed and fell onto the couch. "Cod, I thought she would never leave!"

Akari looked concerned. "What have you done?!"

"What did I do?!"

Akari folded her arms. "You chased off our one lead to what was actually happening to Kira!"

He scoffed. "We don't need her. We have Jacob. He'll help her like he did me."

"But do you think Jacob could fully get rid of whatever is wrong with her?"

He sighed. "He might. But who knows with her..."

_Jacob, I hope you can help her out. I just... I just don't want her to end up miserable._

* * *

Mint and Kira sat on a spare bed upstairs in Akari's house and Mint got her a cold glass of water and insisted she lay down.

"You need rest, Kira. Jacob should be here soon to check up on you." They told her

Kira sighed. "Cod, I hope he can. I feel like death."

Mint smiled sweetly. "Then sleep. You really need it. Goodnight Kira."

"Night Mint." Kira yawned and lied down in her bed as Mint closed the door.

_What exactly is wrong with me? I'm freaking out non-stop, and I'm making my friends worried. I have to get my act together before anything else goes wrong..._

As soon as she closed her eyes, she was out like a light and fast asleep.

* * *

The black goo approached Madame and whispered to them. Madame smiled. "Excellent. Excellent. Soon, our plan will be ready to put into motion."

Madame put the goo back in it's container and typed furiously on the computer's key board. Examining her research with delight, she cackled.

_This is where I will avenge my past project and destroy this world and Inkopolis! The Parasite will be unstoppable! And I will win this battle once and for all!_

* * *

End of Page 1

_Hello guys! Silenced Darkness will be going on hiatus for a bit due to exhaustion. But it will be uploaded periodically as time goes on._

_Thank you for reading!_


	17. Chapter 6 Page 2

Page 2: Resurgence

* * *

Jacob was a tall inkling with shaggy tentacles in an indigo color and wore very sophisticated clothing. He smiled at Akari, Mint and Chili. "Hello guys, you needed me?"

Mint nodded. "Kira's been acting very strange... We need to figure out what's wrong."

He nodded. "Luckily, Akari's lab has the materials I need to help figure out what is exactly wrong. Akari?"

She nodded. "Everything is up-to-date, so you shouldn't have many complications."

Chili nudged the octoling before she went with Jacob. "Since when did you have doctor's equipment?" He asked curiously.

"Well, before I found my true passion in engineering and robotics, I was aiming to major in the medical field, and become a certified doctor." She told him and turned to Mint. "Can you go get Kira? We should be ready by the time you get her to the lab."

Mint nodded. "Sure thing! I'll be down with her in a minute." And ran upstairs to get her.

* * *

Mint opened the door carefully to the room and peaked in. "Kira? Are you decent?" They asked and opened the door. They stumbled upon a destroyed room, furniture everywhere, and a traumatized Inkling in the corner, cowering, crying, and shaking, whispering to herself.

**_"He's Coming... He's Coming..." _**Kira whispered. _**"I don't have much time before he comes to claim me too..."**_

Mint approached carefully, trying to fight back shaking, but failed. "K-Kira? Are you okay...?

Silence. She stopped moving completely and froze, making Mint freeze as well.

"K-Kira?!" Mint went to touch her, and was greeted with a violent shove.

"GET OFF!" Kira yelled and bolted for the next hiding place, with Mint trying to get her to come with. The shouting, however, drew Chili's attention, and Kira was about to flip her shit.

"Oh cod... I'm not ready to die..." She curled up into the corner and huddled against it.

Mint grabbed a blanket and tried to calm down the freaked out Inkling. "Kira, we're not here to hurt you." They said calmly. "Just... Come here."

"Lies! Lies!" She screamed, making Chili's eyes widen. "You're all fucking lying!" She ean downstairs, fell on said stairs, and flipped the couch over and hid behind it.

Chili grunted and followed suit soon after, blanket in hand. "Kira, get out from under there right now."

"Fuck, it knows my name!" She yelled. "No way you demons!"

He then got down to see Kira in her squid-form, hiding behind the couch, cowering and whimpering. Rolling his eyes, he starts creeping closer to get to her. "You're just gonna hurt yourself more..." Once he was close enough, he scooped her up in the blanket and tied it close, preventing her from escaping and keeping her squid-form hostage inside. "There we go." He commented and took her back to Mint and Akari.

"Let me out! Let me out please!" She cried and squirmed as hard as she could in the make-shift bag.

"Sorry, but yer not getting out until Jacob's ready." He told her, resulting in her squirming more. _C'mon Kira, don't be like this, please..._ Chili thought with a frown.

Mint eyed the bag in pity for their friend. "Why is she acting like this?" They asked.

Chili yawned and shrugged while holding the bag.

Akari walked upstairs and looked around for Kira. "We're ready for her. Wait, where is she?"

Chili gave a side eye to Akari, and remarked, "Take a wild guess, Sherlock."

She went over to the bag and opened the top off to let the squid out of the bag, literally.

"Come here, Kira." Akari stuck her hand and that resulted in her getting bit by Kira. She yelped in pain. "KIRA WHY THE HELL DID YOU BITE ME?!"

"You're mean..." She commented.

Chili cracked a smirk from his friend being injured. "Finger biter inside, don't touch." He gave the bag a small shake, and Kira went ballistic, trying to escape, but getting sealed off by one holding her. "And fer the record, ya ain't getting out."

"I fucking hate you all..." She groaned.

Chili smiled evilly. "I love you too." He lowered his voice to where only Akari and Mint could hear him. "Though, I don't know how long she can keep her squid-form with all there injuries." His eyes widened as he saw her give him the bird... in her squid-form!

"**D-DID YOU JUST FLIP ME OFF!?" **He asked her with up-most confusion.

Kira grumbled. "Fuck all of you and this damn hell-hole!"

Akari grabbed the bag from Chili and headed to the lab. "C'mon you." She turned to Chili. "What'd you do to piss her off?"

Chili shrugged. "Fuck if I know. I piss a lot of people off, to name all the things that could've possibly angered her would take us waaaay too long."

"That's fair." Akari commented and opened the door. "Mint, why don't you come with me? I might need another voice of reason among all this." She turned to Chili. "No offense Chili."

He grinned a bit and got comfy on the bed. "None taken. In fact, that's a compliment in my book."

"Oh good lord..." Akari rolled her eyes and had Mint follow her to her lab.

* * *

_Akari's Lab_

* * *

Akari placed Kira onto a bed after a while and she returned to her normal form... And passed out.

Jacob nodded and waited for a few minutes before running the tests, as to not wake her.

As soon as Akari was done helping Jacob run the ultra-sounds to try and locate what was wrong with her, they then saw the Brain MRI, which located a black glob of slime just sitting on Kira's brain.

Mint's eyes widened. "What is that?!" They asked.

Akari pulled out a file and looked over both chemical compounds. "Not entirely sure. But judging by the behavior displayed from her, I think this is similar to TarTar's goo."

Mint frowned. "That's impossible." They declared. "We killed him back in the metro a few months back. There's no way that's even a possibility."

"Hear me out on this, Mint." Akari told them. "You see, the difference all lies in the formula used to create this goo. Now, it could be a recreation of TarTar's blend, but we won't know for sure until I analyze the data."

They raised a curious eyebrow. "How so?"

Jacob stepped in. "I'll remove the goo from her head, then I'll have Akari run some tests. The surgery may take an hour or two. I'll have to cut back some of Kira's tentacle to get to it. There will be scarring from removing the goo."

Akari nodded. "Okay." She turned to Mint, who was quietly sobbing. "Mint, are you okay?"

They sniffled. "N-No... Kira might have the same problem as Chili. I don't want her to have the same problem for her entire life..."

She hugged her crying friend. "Jacob is doing the best he can." She reassured them.

"I know, but..." They trailed off before coming back. "We don't need another casualty. Oh, this is all my fault... If-If only I was just a bit faster down there, or stopped that creature from hunting Kira in the first place..." Mint wiped the tears from their eyes, sobbing more.

"Shh..." Akari rubbed their back as she consoled them, hugging them more. "It's gonna be okay Mint... Kira is a strong gal. She'll make it through all this."

The octoling buried their head into the other's shoulder, tentacles curling up from sadness. "I really hope so..."

Jacob suggested, "We could try laser surgery. Its much safer."

Mint nodded. "Okay... If it'll help her in the long run.." They looked to Akari for the final verdict.

She nodded as well. "It would be best."

Mint smiled and both left the doctor to do his thing. "Be safe."

* * *

End of Page 2


	18. Chapter 6 Page 3

Page 3: Wait and See

* * *

Mint and Akari fixed up the living room and sat on the couch.

"What now? We've got one to two hours to kill." Akari asked her friend.

Mint sat on it for a minute before Akari spoke up. "How about we go to Arowana Mall while we wait?" She held up some coupons. "I have some coupons for our favorite store!"

Mint squealed. "Melissa's?! They have SO many adorable floral patterns!"

Akari grabbed their hand and ran out with their stuff. "C'mon!"

* * *

_Arowana Mall_

* * *

The mall was decently packed with squids and octolings alike. Mint and Akari both had wide grins on their faces and wallets ready to drop the cash like Chili's spicy chips.

"Melissa's has a huge sale. Shop till we drop will be an understatement after today!" Akari replied with a grin.

Mint squealed. "Lets go!"

* * *

After about thirty minutes, both octolings came out with a bag filled with adorable clothes. They both grinned at each other and laughed.

"I can't believe you got us all of these cute outfits for under thirty dollars!" Akari told Mint.

They grinned wider. "Well, I may or may not have picked it up from Chili."

"Oh honey, no..." Akari faked a sad expression. "He's such a bad influence. Next thing you'll know, you'll be fishing for clothes in the dumpster!"

Mint look horrified. "Oh cod no! That's so awful!"

Akari grimaced. "I forgot you're one of those germaphobes."

They scoffed. "Not germaphobe!"

"...Then neat freak?" Akari wondered.

Mint blushed in embarrassment. "No!"

Akari shrugged. "I don't know then, I give up. What are you then?"

"I-I'm just..." They searched for the words before snapping their fingers. "I got it! I'm just one of those people who hates any dirt or garbage."

Akari gave them a dead-panned look. "Mint... Hun, that's a neat-freak."

"WHAT?!" They almost squeaked. "H-How?!"

She shook her head and patted Mint on the shoulders. "You poor, innocent, pure little octo..."

* * *

Akari had led Mint over to a table and had gotten them both sushi.

"Is this sushi!?" Mint exclaimed. "I LOVE SUSHI!"

Akari chuckled as Mint dug in. "Well, everytime I make it, you're the one who beats Chili to the last morsel."

"...Wasn't that Kira?"

"It's only like that with Fried Chicken and Reese's cups." Akari commented as she took a bite. "With you, it's sushi and cream cakes. With Chili, it's Pizza and basically any food that isn't a fruit or veggie, and with Julie, it's chocolate and most meats."

Mint looked shocked. "The fact you retained all that information scares me..."

Akari smugly grinned. "Could I terrify you by telling you I know what exactly is in Chili's _forbidden room_?"

Mint nodded. "Yes...Yes you can."

Akari was, strangely, the one with a photogenic memory. Everything she hears or sees, she takes many mental notes and can remember every detail by heart without even reciting it, making her one you should never prank/black-mail unless you wanted your darkest secrets leaked. Makes her a very cunning, yet adorable octoling.

* * *

An hour and a half passed and Mint, alongside Akari, were window-shopping for Kira.

"What do you think we should get her?" Mint asked.

Akari shrugged. "Shopping for Kira is damn near impossible." She commented. "Nothing pink."

Suddenly, the phone rang an Akari quickly picked up. "Hello?"

"Ay, it's Chili. Kira just got out of surgery." He commented.

Mint gasped. "How is she?! Is she even okay?"

"Doc said it went amazing. Kira's resting up as we speak."

Both sighed a breath of a relief.

"We'll be right over!"

* * *

Kira was dead asleep in the spare bedroom. Her body still healing from the first attack she had, and now, a bandage around her new incision wound.

Chili sat on the bed and watched over, taking mental notes.

_I can't believe I'm saying this, but you might have what I have.. And I hope you don't, because you don't deserve that torture. You don't need it..._

He sat down on a chair and watched his friend sleep peacefully.

_God, if you can hear me, give Kira the strength to survive this mutiny._

Jacob walked in. "Chili? I have the results of the test."

* * *

End of Chapter 6


	19. Chapter 7 Page 1

Chapter 7: Parasite

* * *

Jacob pulled out papers as the two octolings entered from the doorway downstairs. "The results of the test... are not what I hoped they'd be." He sighed.

Chili's ears dropped and his tone softened. "What? Give it to us straight Doc! Is Kira gonna be okay or what?!"

"She will not..."

Mint's expression contorted to one of sadness and fear.

Akari put a hand to her mouth.

Chili clenched his fist and it shook. Tears stained his face and he almost collapsed. "_Why..."_ He choked. He looked up at Jacob, distraught. "_**WHY COULDN'T YOU FIX HER!?"**_

Jacob raised his hands. "Because what we're dealing with is different than what you're dealing with Chili!"

All looked shocked.

"What do you mean?" Akari wondered.

Jacob handed the papers over to Akari for her to analyze and showed Akari to the lab, where the door was locked, and both were left alone.

Chili sat on the couch and held his head. "I can't believe this... It shouldn't have happened to her!"

Mint tried rubbing his back, but he flinched and gave Mint a weird look.

"Like Akari told me; Kira is a strong gal. She's a fighter. She'll make it through this without a doubt."

Chili gave his friend a glare. "Are you just saying that to make me feel better?"

They rubbed the back of their neck to try and hide their grin. "Well, yeah... How else am I supposed to make you feel better?"

"A pizza?" He asked.

"...Something else?"

* * *

Akari sat with Jacob in the lab. "What are you saying Jacob?"

He spread the papers out and showed them to her. "Look at these reports and see if you don't find a difference."

The octoling's eyes darted back and forth, quickly reading and analyzing the information provided. "Well, the chemical intake between this black slime you found and TarTar's original blend are very similar... Only off by about 0.1 percent." She confirmed, "However, this is much more concerning." Akari pointed to the symptoms of the black slime.

"What do we call it? A leech?" Jacob asked.

"Leech is an understatement. A parasite is more like it..." She trailed off and went over to a small container. The black goo Jacob removed from Kira's brain moved around in the container. It sloshed and screeched, trying to break out.

"This possesses similar properties that the blend TarTar had..." Akari trailed off again, examining the goo.

Jacob raised an eyebrow, remembering the first time he had to deal with Chili when he displayed the same symptoms Kira has now. "I thought he was destroyed months ago."

"He was." Akari told him, "But... This is a recreation of the blend. And whoever did this, knew what they were doing."

"A-Are you suggesting there's more to this than meets the eye?" He wondered.

The octoling nodded as she secured the container. "I believe...that in order to find the answers we need. I'll need to travel to The Heart."

* * *

End of Page 1


	20. Chapter 7 Page 2

Page 2: The Descend Into Darkness

* * *

Akari had her ink pack from the metro a year back. She had modded it to fit some things inside, such as her dualies on the side, and some scientific equipment. She put on the leather clothes she had from then as well and pulled her tentacles back into a pony-tail.

_Even in leather, I'm still ready for the hell below._

She turned to Jacob. "You should go home.."

Jacob nodded and left.

_This is all for Kira..._

* * *

Akari walked out and to the kitchen to pack rations.

Chili stood in the doorway. "Where the fuck you think you're going, Akari?"

"Out." She replied.

"Where?" Mint asked, curious.

"I said I was going out." She told them, more firmly.

Chili blocked her from leaving. "You're dressed in Metro Leather and you have your ink-pack. Where are you going?"

"Why do you want to know?" She asked.

Mint stopped Chili from speaking. "After what happened to Kira, we don't want to risk you getting injured... Why are you heading back there?!"

"I have a soultion to our problem, and I need to go back to The Heart." She told them.

"**NO WAY IN HELL'S BELLS ARE YOU GOING BACK." **Chili yelled and grabbed her arm.

"Chili, let go of me!" Akari yelped and tried pushing the inkling away.

He growled and pushed her down. "You're not going. That's the final verdict, Akari."

She yelped and glared. "You don't understand! I can possibly help Kira get better! I know what might be hurting her and I have to go back!"

Mint tried to calm both of them down. "Akari, Chili... please stop..." They begged. "This won't solve anything."

Akari got up and stared at the two with sad eyes. "Kira needs to be helped... I need to go down there... Please let me go..."

Chili and Mint looked at each other, uncertain.

"I'll be back in two days tops... If I don't come back, you can tell me all you want that I was wrong about this and you can piss on my grave..." She begged.

"Akari, don't say that..." Mint reassured. "We'll let you go. Just be-"

"Be back by six PM tomorrow... Otherwise I'll be coming to drag your sorry ass home myself and beat the shit outta you!"

Akari smiled wide and quickly hugged Chili. "Thank you!" She repeated gleefully. "I'll be back by then! I promise!" And ran out the door.

_Expedition Alpha Cure is a go! _She thought as she went to the metro.

* * *

End of Page 2


	21. Chapter 7 Page 3

Page 3: The Descend Into Darkness Pt. 2

* * *

Akari stood at the entrance of the metro, device in her hands as she scanned the surrounding area for any unusual activities.

_Kira needs this... you know why you're doing this, so...stop getting cold tentacles and actually go! You're wasting valuable time!_ She told herself.

Letting out a nervous sigh, the Octoling stepped down into the metro, eyes darting everywhere and looking nervous as hell as she tried pinpointing where exactly she could find help.

"Alright. You have until Six Pm tomorrow... And it is right now Eleven P.M.." She told herself as she walked along the path. "I have plenty of time... But it's precious and I better not waste it."

The dimly lit tunnels unnerved the brave Ocotling who wandered it's empty crevice. Wet and cold, she shivered as she trekked onward, deeper and deeper into the darkness holding the unknown. Her light on her phone was the only comforting light she had to guide her.

Akari, despite putting her best foot forward, was quickly beginning to realize how much of a terrible mistake she had made. Travelling alone in the Deepsea Metro, where it birthed unholy creatures and gave ominous vibes. Yeah, that metro.

_Coming alone was not the best __decision, but I must do it... I must do it for her... _Akari thought as she pulled a scarf from the bag and wrapped it around her neck.

* * *

Colder and colder the metro became. None of the friendly faces like C.Q. Cumber or Iso Padre were anywhere to be seen. The lights on the tunnel walls became more scarce, eventually leaving the poor octoling all alone, on a dark platform with no light to guide her.

Akari grabbed her recorder and started it. "My efforts are in vain as I still march onward in the darkness to find a cure for Kira... No promising signs, no lights, nothing." She sighed as she used her flashlight to look around. Her gaze fixated onto a scripture written on the subway walls. The colorful ink used was fading and the words in an ancient language. The octoling continued to talk.

"Correction: I have found ancient scriptures written on the walls of the metro. The language is indecipherable... It is not Octarian, nor Inkish. I flocked to the assumption that it was a human language that history refers to as 'English.'" She took pictures of the first scripture. "When I return from my adventure, I shall look at my books and see if I cannot decipher this ancient translation."

The recorder clicked off and the lights of the metro suddenly flicked on.

"What the carp?!" Akari yelped as the lights revealed more scriptures on the walls. No longer needing the light on her phone, she turned it off and went to examine the other scriptures.

One caught the curious Octoling's eye and she walked over to it. It showed Octarians and Inklings worshiping a being wrapped in light. They had wings of gold and a dress of ink flowing from them, as they stood above them

_This one is in Octarian... Were there Octolings down here during The Great Turf War? _She thought as she wrote the words down on a notebook.

**Through Heaven's Light, One shall emerge**

**A path of light they shall ****forge**

**A battle with darkness will soon erupt**

**And the surface will fall and become an empty domain.**

Akari raised a curious eyebrow. "They have prophecies? How come I never knew this? And a battle of darkness?"

The Octoling's eyes drifted over to another scripture and squinted a bit, taking a picture. This one had an Inkling specifically, who was wrapped in darkness and their wings were solid black. They stood in front of the people, weeping over them as their bodies lie on the ground, others fearing them and hating them. The text below it was indecipherable, so she took another photo and set up camp on the main platform.

She ate a sandwich she had made and looked over the notes she had taken.

"Too much history things... I need more medical items...More research!" Akari cried.

A voice echoed from the caverns. "Maybe I can help."

Akari loaded her dualies and aimed towards the voice. "Who's there?! Reveal yourself at once!"

* * *

Kira cracked open her eyes for the first time since she got out of her surgery. She sat up and looked around the empty room before slumping back into the bed. Pain finally sweeping over the aching Inkling and her head pounding from the parasite.

_What...happened to me? All I remember was sitting in bed, waiting for Jacob to come get me. Why the fuck do I have more bandages all over my body?_

"Chili, I swear to fucking cod, if you're pranking me, I'm gonna bitch slap you back to your apartment." She muttered as she sipped the water. Thank cod for a cold drink nearby.

She stared up at the ceiling and fiddled with the bandages around her head. Poking at them with uncertainty.

"It's going to be okay Chili..." A voice comforted down-stairs.

_Mint. What are they doing here? And if they're here, that means... Chili is here as well._

Kira got out of her bed carefully and cracked the door open a bit to listen in to their conversation.

"It's not okay Mint! My friend-My fucking friend who has been there for me through thick and thin, who's worked her way from a little shrimp to a warrior in the platoon is on that bed and I don't know if she's even gonna be the same." He vented. "You think you know everything but you don't! You don't know why my ass is worried about one of my best friends!"

Kira's eyes widened as she listened to his words.

"**_...One of my best_**_ **friends...**_"

* * *

End of Chapter 7


	22. Chapter 8 Page 1

Chapter 8:

* * *

Misery stepped from the shadows and approached Akari, making Akari lower her dualies.

"Misery?" The octoling called out. "Is that you?"

The hybrid chuckled. "Yes, it's me. What are you doing here all by your lonesome? Where's Green and Hot-Head?"

"They're watching Kira at home..." She replied.

Misery's eyes widened. "Oh cod is she okay?!"

"No... Our doctor pulled this weird black goo out of her head and after some testing, it showed hostile signs and also showed some rather strange characteristics." Akari told her.

Misery's eyes narrowed. "Black goo? What was it?"

"I don't really know for certain, I think it was a parasite." Akari replied.

"You're friend was infected by a symbiote known as The Shadow Parasite."

* * *

Mint looked at their phone and saw a text from Akari.

_Akari: _I finally have the answers we need! I'm heading back now with Misery to discuss my findings!

Chili growled. "Why is it that fucking Dark Inkling has to be involved in this?!"

Mint elbowed him in the ribs, knowing exactly where that sensitive spot is.

"OOF!" He yelped. "Cod, every single time too..."

"Misery knows what's wrong with Kira, we can finally help cure her!" They told him excitedly.

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious? Kira can finally get cured?"

Mint nodded, and as soon as they did that, Akari and Misery ran in.

"We have what we need!" Akari shouted eagerly and ran into her lab and slid a little too fast in her chair, falling out.

"I'm OK!" she yelped and sat back on her chair. She opened the backpack and unloaded several books written in the dark inkling's language, papers, and several pictures regarding the prophecies.

Mint rushed in after her and Chili just walked in, hands shoved in his pockets and far away from Misery, but in ear-shot.

"What's it say?" They asked.

"The black goo that was in your friend is a formidable disease that can feel... its almost like an alien when you think about it." Misery stated, "You're lucky you got it out before it got any worse."

Mint nodded. "Okay, but what are these?" They asked as they studied the second prophecy, the one with the black ink.

"Our folk's prophecies." She replied. "Those ancient scriptures recall a legend where two heroes would rise and come together to defeat a greater evil."

Akari raised an eyebrow. "What does it recall?"

"Well, they're not really specific. The Black Ink Prophecy shows an Inkling embedded in darkness. The language itself is called Komanu, but I can't fully translate."

Chili grunted. "So you're useless?"

"How about you shut the fuck up, get your happy little ass over here and be of use for once?" Misery replied in a snarky way.

The inkling grumbled and walked over.

Akari tried piecing the clues together she had and read one of the prophecies aloud.

**"Through Heaven's Light, One shall emerge**

**A path of light they shall ****forge**

**A battle with darkness will soon erupt**

**And the surface will fall and become an empty domain."**

Chili raised an eyebrow as he looked at the picture of golden ink sprayed over the wall. "And this was in Octarian? Why are all the other prophecies-"

"Because its to deceive those who become too curious. Komanu was written by the Quanzu, a psychic who knew about the disasters in the thousands of years to come."

They all looked up at Misery, who continued on. "Even though I'm not the best at reading prophecies, I'll try my best to decode this one..."

She picked it up and read it.

**"From the darkness...**

**They shall rise...**

**The Scythe..."**

Misery groaned. "Fuck, I can't read it all, the words are too jumbled up..."

Akari sighed. "Well, it's a start."

* * *

Kira woke up in a cold sweat. Eyes wide as she looked around.

"Cod... what an awful dream..." She sighed as she lied back in bed again. "What did that wacko mean by "prophecy?" What do I have to do with any of it?"

* * *

End of Page 1


	23. Chapter 8 Page 2

Page 2: Return to NeoBright Part 1

* * *

Misery and Akari sat near the computer desk as Akari typed furiously on the laptop for any Squidbeak data on the Shadow Parasite, only to come out empty handed.

"There's no files that have been recorded on the Squidbeak's database about the Shadow Parasite. I should know, I work alongside Sheldon most days." Akari commented.

Misery groaned. "Great. We're basically back to square one. At this rate, who knows what's going to happen to Kira!"

"What is going to happen to me?" A familar voice called from behind. Everyone in the room either jumped or yelped when they heard and saw Kira awake for the first time since her surgery. Her head bandage covering the wound from the incision, and bandages wrapped around her arms and right leg.

"Kira! What are you doing up? Shouldn't you be resting?" Mint asked.

"I heard talking down here, so I came down to see about what all the commotion was. Turns out it's just my friends being my friends" She replied with a chuckle. "What's going on?"

Akari smiled a bit. "Good news and bad news. What do you want to hear first?"

"Let's start with the bad." Kira told her.

The octo bit her lip. "You've been targeted by an alien called The Shadow Parasite. It's making you see some crazy things."

"...Great... Fucking fantastic." The inkling groaned. "So what's the good news? We have to perform an exorcism on my body to expel it from my body?"

"No, dumbass." Misery commented. "We have to return to NeoBright and find the cure there."

Chili sat up and coughed a bit. "I'm sorry, but WHAT?!"

"It's the only other solution." the hybrid explained.

Chili laughed. "You're all very funny. But we're not going there again." He said with all seriousness.

"Dude, you have gotta be shitting me right now." Akari groaned loudly. "The one chance we get to curing Kira and your fat-ass decided to be a little pussy and chicken out?!"

"Hey!" Kira defended Chili. "The only one who gets to call Chili a pussy is me!" The inkling turned to her hot-headed friend, who still looked mildly offended, but accepted the back-up she provided. "Okay then Chili, then what's your suggestion? I'm sure we're all eager to find out."

"It's very simple: We just have Jacob prescribe Kira the medication similar to mine and she'll be good to go."

Kira sighed, "Any other suggestions?"

He shook his head. "Nope. I don't want you going back there again." He told her.

Misery held her head. "You surface dwellers are very confusing..."

* * *

Kira had left the room to go to her room that she was staying in. Sighing and holding her head.

_"We need you..."_

Kira's eyes widened as she heard a voice other than her own. "Wh-Who's there?"

_"Please come to NeoBright...We need you..."_

The scared inkling thought to herself, _This voice sounds familiar... *gasp* It's that crazy guy from my dream! What do they want from me?_

"They want me to go to Neobright? Do they want me to come alone? Do they want me to go with my friends? What do you fucking want from me?!" She shouted a little too loud.

_You are the world's only hope... We need you to save it, hero."_

"Okay now I know I'm being delusional." She told whoever was talking to her. "I'm no hero. I'm just some squid who has nothing better to do with her life but Salmon Run and Turf War?"

She looked around and raised an eyebrow. "Speaking of which... Who the fuck is even talking to me?!"

Nothing.

_Oh yeah, the one time I ask who you are and you don't even answer me. Thanks so fucking much for your helpful insight._

As soon as she finished the thought, she received a text from none other than Agent 1. "Hey Agent Kira, I need to talk to you regarding your mission with Chili. Can you meet me in the metro pretty please?"

_This seems fishy... Um... Why would Callie want to meet me there?_

"Wouldn't you want to meet at the Cuttle-Shack instead?" She asked in her text.

"Nonono! I can't inconvenience Agent 2 and Gramps- I mean- Captain. Its soooo late! Can't you please meet me there?"

Kira still heard the bickering her friends were doing down in the lab, thinking she wouldn't get noticed and make the perfect get-away.

_This is not a good idea, but I better see why she's acting like this._

She slipped on her hero armor and headphones, grabbing her Hero Roller Replica and equpiing her ink-tank, slinging the roller across her back.

"I'm on my way." She texted and headed out without thinking too much about it. Her friends still distracted by figuring out what exactly to do to help her gave her the perfect opportunity to move on her own. She quietly closed the front door and headed out

* * *

The metro was extremely creepy at night. Agent 1 was standing outside waiting for her. "There you are~!" She told Kira sweetly. "Oh I'm so glad you decided to drop by and- Oh my cod what happened to your head?!" She yelped upon seeing her wounds.

"It's from Salmon Run." She lied. "I got hit with a nasty sting-ray."

Callie embraced her. "You poor thing!"

"Ack! Agent 1? Yer crushing me..." Kira wheezed.

She quickly let go and smiled. "Sorry~! I didn't know what got the best of me!"

Kira nodded and motioned towards the metro. "So uh... Why'd you want me to meet you here?"

"Captain went missing again and I think I know where he went!" She commented.

"Again? It's bad enough Agent 3 had to look for him the first time, but now me? I'm just asking to get murdered..." She groaned.

"...Oh?" She asked.

_How come she doesn't remember? She's the one who bandaged him up at the shack... Wait a minute... This isn't the real Callie._

"You don't remember, Agent 1?" She asked. "Because, last I checked, you were the one to bandage him up..."

"Oh yeah~! That was it!" Callie chimed.

Kira got closer for a hug. "Why don't we 'hug it out?' Maybe have a sweet embrace?"

"Sounds lovely! Oh you're so sweet Kira!"

_She even referred to me by my actual name! Oh cod this isn't her!_

Kira grabbed Callie by the arm and looked her dead in the eyes. "Agent 1, what do you refer to my partner as?"

"Chili."

"Good charade. But it wasn't enough to fool me." She commented as she slammed the imposter against the wall and it transformed into a black blobby inkling. "You're the parasite!" Kira yelped as she wrestled it.

It grunted. Struggling to escape as she pinned it down. "H-How'd you know it wasn't her?! I had her tone down and everything!"

"Because the real Agent 1 doesn't refer to us by our names. You're gonna have to try a lot harder than that to fool me." Kira growled. "Start talking or start praying for mercy, because if you don't tell me where the real Agent 1 is, I'm gonna splat you with the weight of my roller here. And death by roller is a pretty painful death to say the least."

"Okay Okay! She's in NeoBright! We kidnapped her from her home under orders by our leader!"

Kira snarled. "Who is your leader?"

* * *

End of page 2


	24. Chapter 8 Page 3

Page 3: Return to the Metro Part 2

* * *

Kira paced back and forth with the corpse of the parasite on the ground as she sighed.

_Great... Callie's been taken again. Shouldn't go down there alone, and Cod forbid that Chili would willingly go if I asked him. Mint's terrified of the Metro ever since TarTar the Tiny Ass Bitch, don't blame them either. And Akari can't fight as well... Could have-_

Her thoughts were interrupted by Misery, who was watching her. "Whatcha got there?"

"Did Chili send you?" She asked with a grimace.

Misery snickered. "We noticed you were gone. Your fucking boyfriend sent me out to get you."

Kira choked on those words. "**WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK MISERY!?**"

Misery laughed. "Is he not your boyfriend? You two look adorable together."

Kira blushed hard in embarrassment. "H-He's not into me! He likes someone else, okay? We're just friends, maybe even best friends."

The hybrid brought the embarrassed Inkling into a half embrace and grinned a bit. "You know, it's okay to tell him how you feel."

"And let him think I'm a delusional? Screw that!" Kira protested.

Misery chuckled. "Come on, your friends want you back."

* * *

Chili had his arms crossed, foot tapping against the wood floor, and glaring at his friend. "WHERE have you been Kira?! Hmm?!"

"Chili, cod-damnit, you're not my father." She replied, annoyed.

Mint grabbed Chili's arm and looked at their injured friend. "Kira, please tell us what you were doing..."

Kira sat down and sighed. "I got a strange text from Agent 1, okay? It was concerning me and I found this black blobby Inkling that could shapeshift..."

Misery snarled. "The Shadow Parasite. It turned into your friend and tried dragging Kira to the Metro"

Mint and Akari gasped, Chili got more pissed, and Kira sat in silence.

"See? This is why we can't have nice things." Chili told them. "And this is exactly the reason why I'm not letting us go back down to that damn city. Especially you Kira." He pointed a finger at the pouting Inkling.

"Chili, I'm fine..." Kira groaned. "You're just being over-protective."

Misery chimed in. "Only because he LOVES YOU!"

Kira and Chili choked on hearing those words. "**WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!?**" They both yelled, blushing hard from embarrassment.

Misery laughed. "Oh come on~! I can't even have a little fun with you?"

The embarrassed Inkling crossed his arms. "I'm in NO way into her like that!"

Misery smirked. "So there's still a possibility you might like her?"

"SHUT UP!" Chili yelled.

* * *

After the heat had settled down, Chili had, very reluctantly, geared up and grabbed his hero dynamo.

"Kira, are you sure this is worth it?" Chili whispered. "We're heading into _The Lion's Den_."

She nodded with a determined look. "If it took Mint's iron fist and my stubborn persistence to convince you to come with us, then we can't back down now."

As much as Kira didn't want to admit it, her gut turned inside out as they proceeded with Misery to the one place that ruined her Chili's life, and scarred Mint.

She was heading deep into the one place that almost killed her friends. And it aches to claim another life.

* * *

End of Chapter 8

_Starting Now, All Chapters from now on will be much longer and not split into segments unless it's a two part segment._

_This way, I'll be able to keep you guys interested._


	25. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: It Echoes to Her

* * *

The group was supposed to head out tomorrow. Everyone was fast asleep in Kira's house except for Kira herself. The inkling crept downstairs in her gear, hero roller replica in it's bag, her inktank, and a rations supply.

_I need to do this on my own... _She told herself. _It's safer this way. I don't want Chili or Mint getting hurt again. The horrible memories that must resurface when they go down there is terrible to say the least._

Kira approached the door knob, but retracted her hand and looked back at Chili, fast asleep on the couch and a bowl of spicy chips on his stomach.

She sighed quietly and moved the chips off his stomach and puts a blanket over his body, watching the inkling peacefully sleep his night away as she provided the best comfort for him. As a final goodbye.

_You're going to fucking kill me the next time you see me... _She looked back towards the door and then back at Chili. _You know,** If** you see me again._

She opened the door quietly and looked at Chili one final time.

_Keep Kari safe for me, Chili. She needs the company._

* * *

The entrance to the metro was far scarier and much more desolate and destroyed than she last remembered it being. The train destroyed, the challenges destroyed. Everything was gone. The echoes within her heart and soul grew louder as she carefully made her way towards the main platform to The Heart. No back-up, no comfort, nothing to remind her of home. Except one thing.

Kira pulled out a golden heart locket from out of her shirt and opened it up to see a picture of her and her friends; Chili, Mint, her and Akari all on the Ferris wheel at Wahoo World. Chili, for once, smiled in the picture and enjoying his time with his friends.

A few tears fall onto the ground as Kira hid the locket in her shirt. As she knew far too well that would be the last time she would see his smile. The last time she was ever going to see her friends happy.

The chambers screamed at her from the darkness to come closer. The lighting started glowing purple and led her down a dark tunnel, with walls scribbled in ancient tongue, watermarks, moss and what appeared to be dried blood. Kira removed the roller from it's bag and clutched it tightly as she headed in, shaking and looking left and right every second she was in there. Every little sound scared the piss out of the poor inkling as she progressed farther and farther in. But what she saw next baffled her

Entering a place known only from what she got from a broken sign, as Platform X91, her immediate response was to ink some areas to see if anything would notice her. But all was quiet in the platform.

It was freezing beyond belief. Kira was lucky she brought her hero jacket for the cold and slipped it on, inspecting the areas. The platform she was on had seven different tunnels: Two on each side, two in front of her, and one behind her. The area was falling apart and the darkness just seemed to surround her. But one single bright LED light hung above her and lit the entire platform up. She could see the abundance of dust particles just from the light.

_Alright... I'm here... Just like you asked. Now what am I supposed to do?_

The light overhead flickered and Kira raised her roller for a swing, on edge and ready for a strike. A tap from behind and on the shoulder. Kira screamed, spun around and punched something in the face.

"GOOD FUCKING COD KIRA!"

"Wait... Chili?!" Kira's eyes widened upon seeing Chili right behind her. "What the fuck are you doing here?!" She yelped. "When I left, you were dead asleep on the couch!"

Chili's arms were folded and he scowled. "All the more reason to come down here and get you." He pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "Kira, you're a fucking disgrace."

She rolled her eyes at the inkling. "Yeah Ye-" She cut off upon seeing something...off about Chili.

"Say, uh, Chili? Have you noticed how much greener your eyes looked before you came down here?" Kira pondered as she inspected the inkling, who was now sweating.

_He's nervous. Something tells me something's off here. I'm going with my gut instinct, but just to be sure, the one test to see if it's him._

She found a bag of spicy chips in the broken vending machine and pointed to them. "Do you like these?"

He made a disgusted face and Kira's eyes widened. _**"YOU'RE NOT CHILI!"**_

The figure grinned as it revealed itself as a shadow parasite. "You've gotten better at telling us apart from your friends. I'm not going to beat around the bush anymore. It's time you come with us. Our leader wants you.

Kira gave him the bird. "Tell your leader he can kiss my ass! I'm not going anywhere with you fuckers!"

The area began to flood with shadow parasite Octarians and Inklings. Surrounding Kira and attempting to trap her in a sticky black ink.

The inkling, without a second thought, flunk aquamarine ink forwards and splatted a few octarians in the process. Kira was not going down without a fight.

"Bring it on Shadow Shits!"

* * *

Chili woke up in the living room to see Akari worried sick and searching for her gear, following behind her was Misery and Mint, both with bedhead and tentacles all over the place.

"Akari?" He asked with a groan. "What the hell are you doing?"

Akari grabbed Chili with surprising strength, making him yelp. "Kira's gone!"

All eyes widened and Mint gasped. "She knows better than to go to the metro alone now!" They commented.

Akari sighed and adjusted her pilot goggles. "She must have left when we were all sleeping. I don't know why in cod's name she would do something as crazy as that.."

Misery felt a knot forming and tightening in her stomach. "Guys... I'm afraid to say this, but I think Kira is in much more trouble than I thought."

Chili raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Kira might have been captured by the parasites again..."

* * *

Kira yelped and struggled to get free. Her upper body, arms, and legs were trapped in the ink and her roller was confiscated. "No! My roller!" She kept trying to pull away from it but soon found herself trapped and unable to move. Despite the fight she put up, she was outnumbered and now was at the mercy of the shadow parasites.

The figure who disguised themselves as Chili grinned. "Looks like you'll be coming with us after all, Surface Dweller."

Kira's ears dropped and she was freed hoisted up by two shadow guards. "You're not going to get away with this!" She whimpered and yelped as she was tossed into a cage. Her wrists were bound by cuffs and her legs bound by the black ink.

_I can't believe this is happening again! Oh cod... Oh cod... I have to get out of here and get to the others and warn them about-_

"Ah. I see you have our guest of the hour."

Kira's eyes widened upon hearing the familiar crackled voice and seeing the strange green and black mixed goo dripping onto the ground. "Y-You can't be alive... You just can't..."

It grinned at her. "Oh but I am."

* * *

_End of Chapter 9_


	26. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Impossible Imprisonment Pt 1

* * *

Everything was happening so fast. Kira was kept in the cage and shook her head in disbelief as she couldn't believe what she saw. The commander whom Chili and Mint fought months ago was alive and standing in front of her.

"Y-You... You can't be alive! Three and Eight dealt with you months ago! You should be at the bottom of the ocean!"

TarTar grinned. "Shouldn't be so surprised, cephalopod. I keep more than one model on me." He bent down and reached into the cage, making Kira recoil and back away. "My, how the times have changed. I'm going to have a LOT of fun with you."

Kira began shaking and her ears low, her hands bound and curled up in a ball and watched as the tunnels passed by, until her senses were brought back to her by the powerful smell of sanitized ink.

The sanitation labs that were supposed to be destroyed, were in tact and still running. Octolings and Inklings of all sorts floating lifeless in chambers filled to the brim with a dark green ink.

Kira's eyes widened and hot tears began pouring as she was escorted out of the cage and forced to head towards the cells unit. She was forced to confiscate her gear and switch to a strange leather outfit similar to Akari's gear, but the sleeves were completely gone. And to add insult to injury, they threw on a shock collar.

"Good Cod I look like a prostitute." She complained as they prepared her cell.

The cell was somewhat decent. A bed, a small area disclosed for Kira to relieve herself properly so they're not monsters... to an extent. The poor squid was shoved into the cell, the chain hooked to the floor, and the cell door locked. Leaving her in a dimly lit cell.

_Well this is just great... I have to warn the others. But how?_

Kira reached towards her ear and pressed the SOS signal on the platoon earrings Mint made and it rang to the crew, leaving Kira to wait for them.

* * *

**_BEEP BEEP BEEP!_**

Akari perked up to the noise and rushed over to see an SOS signal.

Mint gasped and leaned over Akari's shoulder. "That's Kira's SOS signal!"

"That means she's in trouble." Chili's face seemed to drop and he went pale. "Cod, why did she go down there?!"

Akari seemed to sweat as she loaded her dapple dualies and undercover brella. "We need to get to her fast."

Chili slung the dynamo over his shoulder and seemed to ram the door down with brute strength, running as fast as his legs could carry him to the metro, where his friends followed close behind him as he followed the signal.

_Hang on Kira! I'm coming!_

* * *

Kira received a triple beep in her ear, meaning her friends had traced her signal and are now on their way. Kira smiled wide as she knew that, but her smile quickly faded to a terrified look as TarTar approached her with a nasty grin, cuffs in hand and tightening them on her wrists.

"Come along. Your time has arrived."

Kira was hastily brought to her feet and dragged along. On edge, she expected the worse to happen to her. And what she saw next made her entire gut churn.

The shaken inkling was brought to a cylinder chamber similar to the other octolings. But TarTar's intent was not to sanitize her. The container was entirely made of glass.

Kira yelped as she was shoved into the container and locked in. The wires extended from inside and pierced the skin, making her scream and shriek. The terrified inkling through heavy tears and pain banged on the glass and begged to be released. A purple energy made the wires glow as she watched TarTar monitor her from the container. She looked up as she sank to the floor of the chamber in pain.

"The power levels coming from you are promising." He cooed. "I never imagined someone like you could be so useful to me."

Kira, through gritted teeth, growled at him. "Go to hell you fucking piece of shit!"

"Sir! We have intruders approaching the labs! Shall we intervene?" One sanitized guard shouted.

TarTar shook his head. "Let them come. I want them to see their precious friend suffer."

"**I HATE YOU!**" Kira roared and yelled as a controlled shock brought her back down to the floor.

His guards nodded and continued their work, while Kira suffered through the agonizing pain in her back and felt her tears streamlining her face. It felt so terrible she almost passed out from the sheer pain.

Is this really the end?


	27. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Impossible Imprisonment Pt 2

* * *

The walls were lined with moss and wetmarks as Misery helped her friends in the tunnels. The horrifying display of aquamarine ink colliding with black and green made Chili and Mint worried to hell and back.

"What happened here?" Mint asked, surveying the area.

"A struggle. One Kira couldn't handle by the looks of the ink staining the areas." Misery commented. "She tried to fight them and ended up getting outnumbered and overpowered."

Chili crossed his arms; agent gear on and pissed as hell. "What do these weirdos want with her?"

"That's the thing. You see, Shadow Parasites are not really sentient. They don't have true emotions and just portray them. Again, think of them as puppets. And with every puppet, there's a puppet-master pulling the strings." The dark inkling told them. "They wouldn't have done this unless they were _ordered to_."

Mint's eyes widened. "You're saying that there's someone else who did this?"

Akari nodded. "And I found a trail. We need to find Kira before she's killed."

"Looking for someone?"

All eyes turned towards the familiar voice and saw Kira was safe and sound, Mint ran to hug her, but Misery narrowed her eyes and snarled.

"You. Don't. Belong. HERE." She snarled. "Get back! That's not your friend."

Kira hissed and started throwing punches and Misery blocked them, kicking the imposter in the chest and attempting to restrain them.

Chili ran over and tried helping Misery fight but the figure managed to make their tentacles longer and threw Chili back.

Chili yelped in surprise by the parasite's strength and was stunned briefly, causing Mint and Akari to run over and keep their distance.

"So you've come crawling back?" The parasite cooed. "Master will be pleased!"

Misery snarled and punched the parasite in the ribs and kicking it back like a bag of garbage. "I am **NOT** like any of you! You are just sand at the bottom of the ocean; meaningless!"

The two were at each other's throats, literally, as Misery's tentacles extended and began to choke the parasite. "YOU DENSE MOTHERFUCKER! HOW'S THIS FOR SIZE?!"

"GET THE FUCK OFF ME!" The parasite yelled, kicking the hybrid in the face and freeing herself of the grasp.

A literal cat fight was in progress as Misery and 'Kira' scratched, hissed, pulled each other's tentacles and threw numerous kicks and jabs at the ribs.

"You can't fight worth shit!" The parasite commented.

"HA! You fight like your grandmother's grandmother! Even a cucumber can put up a better fight then you!" Misery said as she wrestled the imposter.

Mint spoke up watching the fight go down. "Could we calm down-"

**"MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS MINT!"** Both screamed at the octoling and they recoiled.

Chili wanted to retort, but Akari shook her head and told him to not bring it up through a cold glare.

"Listen to me well and listen good." Misery snarled and grabbed the parasite by the throat, getting close to where only the parasite could hear her.

"_You may have turned me into a parasite, but I'll **NEVER** be like you. And I won't let that fucker control me. You got that?!"_

Misery roared before using her tentacles to throw down the parasite onto the ground and shot it with the charger, splatting it.

Silence fell upon the group as Misery stepped away, making her tentacles curl up into a ponytail and tying them together. Turning back to the group with pained eyes, she eyed the tunnel leading to the labs.

"I have a lot of explaining to do, I know... But let's-"

A loud, blood-curdling scream filled the once empty chamber and all of her friend's faces became pale. Chili rushed forward with worry, ears low and running towards the source.

"KIRA! HANG ON WE'RE COMING FOR YA!" He yelled through the tunnels and all ran.

* * *

Kira kept screaming as the pain continued, TarTar ramping it up just to see how much she could take. The pain never ended and the tears kept flowing. There was a small window of a pause where TarTar would stop the throttle of pain to check up on the poor squid.

"Ready to submit to me yet?"

"NEVER!" Kira croaked, hoarse from the yelling and collapsed on the floor. But looking up, she noticed a familiar vial of green and black in TarTar's hands. "Wh-What is that?" She asked.

"Hmm? Oh! This. This right here is an enhancement of my sludge. So now, instead of taking your chubby cehalopod friend, I'll be using you instead."

Kira yelled again despite her hoarseness and struggled to escape, forgetting about the wires in her back. The door to the chamber opening and the needle coming ever so close to Kira's neck, when the door to the lab flung open, and like a bull, Chili raised his dynamo sky high and gave TarTar a murderous glare.

"Yyooouuuu get your FILTHY HANDS OFF OF HER!" He roared.

* * *

End of Chapter 11


	28. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Glory for Squids

* * *

TarTar grinned. "Well look who finally arrived. So glad to see you survived."

Chili's mouth curled into a snarl. "You better let Kira go or I'm going to return you to where you belong." He raised the dynamo for a swing. "IN THE FUCKING OCEAN!"

TarTar wheezed as the dynamo rammed into his chest and Mint ran over before the glass doors shut and disabled the wires before any more damage was done.

Kira hugged Mint and sobbed as her back bled terribly from the wires.

"Oh dear cod Kira! Let me take care of that..." Mint pulled out some bandages and got to work, though Kira didn't make it easy for them as the pain was so terrible for her. "I know, I know, please hold on.." They told her in a calm voice.

Akari and Misery fought off the guards and tried keeping Kira and Mint safe while they worked.

"Shit, there's so many of them! Misery, we can't hold them off much longer!" Akari cried.

Misery grunted. "Keep fighting! Mint! Hurry!"

Mint shot the hybrid a look. "Hey, I have to be careful with this, the wounds are severe."

"This situation is gonna get a lot more severe if you don't pull out that Octo-Shot of yours and destroying them!" She retorted.

Mint sighed in frustration and finished what they could on Kira before assisting their friends.

Chili and TarTar were at it for a long time. Swinging and exchanging blows. Rage completely consumed the inkling as he and the one who had scarred Chili physically and mentally.

"You... Have a LOT of nerve coming back to life!" A violent swing of the dynamo after the other as Chili puts TarTar directly in the line of splatting.

"I was never really dead." He told him. "I always keep more than one model around in case I was destroyed."

Chili gritted his teeth. "I'll make sure you stay dead this time!"

"It's required for Kira to be here." The monster told him.

"Oh give me a break." The inkling rolled his eyes. "My friend is not your crash-test dummy!"

TarTar spat. "You mean girlfriend?" He smirked at both Chili's and Kira's reactions; choking on the words 'girlfriend'.

"I can't believe it! you're more delusional than I am!" He smacked TarTar again with the dynamo.

Kira coughed up blood. "Chili's right... You are delusional!"

"Kira!"Chili ran over and checked her wounds. "He did so much to you..."

She grunted and tried getting up on her own."I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

Mint knelt down next to her. "You have lost so much blood, please let us-"

"Please don't do this to me guys." She coughed more blood up. "Heh... I'm a strong squid, I can handle this."

"No, Kira, you can't. We need to take you home now and get you to Jacob. And never come back here."

TarTar did not like hearing this. using what strength he had left, he took a shot at taking the injured Kira again.

The Inkling grunted as he was pushed away by a beaten TarTar and his tentacles grabbed Kira.

Kira yelped loudly and struggled hard. "Let gooo-ACK!" All eyes went wide and became horrified as the needle went into the Inkling's neck and sank in.

Chili roared and tried charging but ran into a wall by a smart move performed by TarTar, dragging Kira away deeper into the lab. "Farewell Squidbeaks." He grinned. "And traitor."

Misery attempted getting Kira back, but her distant yells soon silenced as Misery and Chili stood there. Speechless as Kira was once again taken from them.

"I... I couldn't get her back..." Chili muttered. "I..."

Misery loaded the E-Liter and walked forward. "You are going to get Kira back. Despite what happens, we'll make it through, and Kira will too."

Akari nodded and stood by Chili. "Let's give TarTar the smack down of a lifetime!"

Mint smiled. "We'll get her back!"

Chili nodded and refilled the ink tank. Holding his dynamo tightly, he nodded.

"We're gonna make this work. And we're gonna get Kira back. _**No matter what the cost may be.**_"

* * *

TarTar stood in a room with another figure. Grinning. "It's time my soldier. Go and make me proud."

"Of course, sir." They commented, pulling out a roller. "I shall not disappoint you."

* * *

_End of Chapter 12_


	29. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Agent...4...?

* * *

The group entered a large, dark arena. There seemed to be a floating platform above the group and two figures at the top. The lights flickered to life as TarTar and one other girl, an inkling, stood there, back turned to them.

Chili was so fed up with TarTar's shit, he squidjumped to the smaller platform below the floating platform with the two on top.

"Ah! You made it! It's time for the show." He grinned as Chili snarled, dynamo drawn.

"Fuck you and your show. I'll tear your guts out and shove them down your throat. Give Kira back this instant!" Chili yelled.

TarTar maliciously grinned. "You can have her..."

The Inkling turned to Chili and everyone looked horrified to see Kira, her eyes black and the irises the sanitized green from TarTar's goo. No sigh of the goop is on her face, but she wears her suit still and has her hero roller in hand.

Chili's face turns from one of rage to one of horror as he falls back and catches himself on the platform. The feeling of burning crawling up his scarred arm as the memories flood back.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER!?" He screeched at the top of his lungs.

TarTar laughed and pointed at Chili. "Kill them all!"

Kira looked down and leapt up, preparing to splashdown right on top of Chili.

His eyes widened. "Shit!" He leaped out of the way just in time for the Splashdown to barely miss him and marked a path of escape.

Mint watched the spectacle petrified, frozen in place. "This can't be happening now!"

Misery shouted. "She's getting ready to use a deadly double special! Take these and use them sparingly!" She tossed Chili a few cans with labels on them, all of them said Double Ink Armor.

Kira pulled out an bomb rush where it was all curling bombs, and cod was she accurate. She made them rebound off of the walls and they almost hit Chili, scaring him out of hiding.

Running as fast as he could, he tried running in circles to throw her off. He finally caught sight of her and thought of something as the next curling bomb approached. He swung the dyanmo for another trail of ink, planted the edge into the ground, hoisting himself into the air from the momentum and kicking the curling bomb back into Kira's stomach, breaking her armor and making her grunt.

Saying nothing, Kira leaped up onto the second floating platform and unleashed three stingrays at once.

"TRIPLE STINGRAY!" Misery screamed.

"SCRAM!" Chili called out to the rest and bit the lid of the double ink armor can and tried to lure the stingrays away from Mint and the others. "FUCK KIRA STOP IT!"

Kira's mouth curled into a snarl as the last amount of energy from the stingray wore off and broke through the first layer of Ink Armor. She leapt down with her roller in tow and splashed down midair, creating a devastating blow that broke the second layer of ink armor much faster than Chili had planned. She attempted throwing punches but was blocked and he even attempted restraining her, but lost ultimately and had to come up with a new plan before she crushed him with her roller.

"Kira, I-I can't hurt you." He said softly. "Please stop!"

TarTar grinned as he knows she's backed him into a corner. "Finish him!"

Misery's eyes widened as she tossed another can to him, labeled Splashdown. "Use this! Hurry!"

Chili nodded and used the can to his advantage, the force of the splashdown he caused sent Kira flying a few feet, scraping her up, but it wasn't enough to keep her down. She went back up to the platform and pulled out an inkzooka. Something that hasn't been seen for a while. She looked at a pad before pressing a button and launching it.

Akari looked terrified to see the Inkzookas again. "Kira has a deadly accuracy with the Inkzooka! If that lands anywhere near Chili, he's a goner!"

The Inkling attempted to, once again, stun Kira, but the explosion overhead turned the inkzooka explosion into an Ink Thunderstorm, much heavier than a regular Inkstorm. Akari and Mint both opened their brellas to help protect themselves and Chili, who had to book it over to them just to avoid the burning sensation of enemy ink coming in contact with his skin. Unfortunately some did come in contact with his skin and his face was damaged by the storm's pressure.

"This isn't good at all guys!" Mint cried. "What do we do?! We can't get anywhere near her or she'll kill us!" They panicked

Misery then perked up and dug in Akari's bag.

"Wait. Is that my-?"

"It's Low Tide Ink. I need her and TarTar distracted if I want a clear shot. This only has room for two so I need a good opening before I can attempt hitting her." She explained.

Akari nodded. "Chili, Mint? Can you two cause a distraction while I help Misery with the ink? Mint could toss some Splat Bombs and scare her one way and Chili can get her at the other end?"

Both nodded, indicating that the plan was in motion. But before they could do anything, Kira came from behind and scared the shit out of the group, making them scatter like mice and they all fled. Kira went after Chili and Mint and tried to get both into a corner by unleashing the auto bomb launcher and placing them in near perfection. Chili and Mint almost collided with each other in the rush to avoid the bombs and they were running out of space to run from her.

Misery loaded the Elite Splatterscope and aimed at Kira.

_Wait for it... Wait... Wait..._

An opening was seen for Misery as Kira was in her line of fire. Misery took a breath, held it and pulled the trigger.

**BAM!**

* * *

End Of Chapter 13


	30. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: The Unknown

* * *

Kira's eyes were wide as the left side of her face was hit with the low tide ink, and it was a strong shot of it too.

"Direct hit." Misery called.

"No!" TarTar yelped as his puppet was disconnected from his command and Kira fell to the floor, catching herself as she fell on her knees and sharply gasped for air.

"G-Guys? Is that...?" Kira wondered, her eyes returning to violet.

Mint hugged her. "Oh thank cod the Low Tide Ink worked!"

"What happened?" She asked, rubbing her head. "All I remember is seeing you guys in the lab and then, I blacked out.

"The important thing now is that you're okay." Chili remarked.

Misery snarled at TarTar. "I have a sac to puncture with YOU!"

TarTar booked it out of there and Misery went after him. "HEY! I'M NOT-"

The floor beneath them began to shake and crumble. It suddenly opened wide and Kira, Chili, Mint, Akari, and Misery fell down the hole. Plummeting for the bottom of the abyss for their final moment. But something soft broke their falls.

* * *

Kira was the first to awaken from the collision. She sat up, head spinning and groaned. The area the crew had fallen into was even farther below then the metro. All of her friends seemed unharmed by the fall, but she was still worried nonetheless.

_**YoU fInAlLy ArRiVeD...** _A voice, cold and brittle called out to Kira, and to Kira alone.

"Wh-Who's there?" Kira called out.

All that there was in this unknown place was looming darkness. In every corner and crevice aside from the light that shined from the hole created above. The curiosity of the Inkling got the best of her and walked towards the cold voice.

The dripping of water made Kira uneasy, It was too quiet for her. No one to cling to, no one to talk to... No one.

_**It'S oKaY tO bE sCaReD, Kira...** _It cooed. **_We HeRe UnDeRsTaNd YoU'rE uNcErTaInTy..._**

The tunnel became illuminated by a soft glow coming from the end. Inside the large area, stood a large, black and purple crystal, the power she felt radiating from it as she got closer made her feel anxious. The voices; the barrage of whispers poking and making tiny clicking against her skull. It became unbearable to ignore them.

Kira held her head and felt the reality around her distort to where it was just her and the crystal. Nothing else but the two.

A voice, much calmer than the other, spoke to her.

_**"The heart of a warrior**_

_**A squid of many talents**_

_**To forge the path of Twilight**_

_**A soul must first confront the Darkness"**_

Kira gulped nervously as the voice reached out to her. It seemed to speak in tongues to her, but she knew well that there was no way out of this.

As she approached more, it spoke again.

_**"A noble soul; The Brave Warrior has risen**_

_**The Darkness has been associated with evil**_

_**But the Inkling can make it a power of good.**_

_**The spirit of the leader is within you.**_

_**A power that cannot be described**_

_**But can be feared.**_

_**Do you accept your fate, Kira?"**_

Kira shook and trembled horribly. She didn't know what to think or how to react. She never took the dreams as fateful omens that would lead to this area. But now even more so than ever, did she question her faith in herself.

_I am no hero. What makes you think I am capable of possessing this great power?_

Although she questioned her capabilities, she reached out to the crystal.

* * *

Misery was the second to stir and found the path that Kira once took. Her footprints that were etched in the soil were still fresh.

_Where did she run off to now? Maybe..._

It then dawned on her. The Prophecy. The Darkness. The Forewarning. Akari's findings. Kira was in a lot of trouble. And if she found the crystal...

"KIRA!" she ran as fast as she could to catch up to her. Hoping by the time she got there, it wouldn't be too late.

* * *

Kira stood there for what felt like eons before reaching out to the crystal, it radiating more and more power as her hand drifted over the surface. Power leaked and twisted around her, aching for her to touch it. But as she got just above the surface of the crystal, she heard a familiar scream.

"KIRA DON'T TOUCH IT!"

"Huh?!" Kira looked back to see Misery at the mouth's entrance scared shitless and attempted pulling Kira back.

"Do NOT touch the crystal! It's not safe!" Misery warned.

_**Touch it Kira and accept your fate!**_

Almost as if in a trance, Kira's attention snapped back to the crystal and went to touch it again.

Misery panicked and had her tentacles become longer and grab hold of her arms and tried pulling back. "KIRA SNAP OUT OF IT!"

But it was too late. Kira's palm came in contact with the crystal and power was absorbed into Kira. But because she did so, the crystal exploded upon contact and sent Misery flying, but protected Kira.

The hybrid fell to her side and had her tentacles return to normal. Her eyes widened as she saw Kira's body lying there at the foot of where the crystal once was.

"Holy shit Kira!" She ran over and checked for a pulse. Relief swept over her as she felt a pulse. "Oh cod... Kira what did those things want with you..."

Horror swept over her face again as she saw a familiar figure approaching. "**You...**"

* * *

Chili, Mint, and Akari all woke up from the loud explosion and all panicked as both Misery and Kira were gone.

"Kira?" Mint called out. "Misery?!"

Akari looked horrified as she saw the footprints leading towards a cave. "I think I know where they might be..."

Chili looked exhausted but worried and followed his friends into the cave. What they came across gave them a heart attack. Kira's body near the crystal, limp. While Misery was cradling the body and protecting it from none other than TarTar himself.

"I knew she'd lead me straight to it. And now that I know that my assumptions were correct, it's high time I take back what's mine."

Misery shouted and fended him off with her tentacles. "Leave her alone you fucking asshole!"

TarTar picked the hybrid up by her neck and tossed her aside to the gang.

"Mis!" Mint cried and ran over to her to help her up.

TarTar frowned. "Pity she isn't awake to help me. Oh well. I'll just take the second best thing."

Suddenly, an eerie, maniacal laughter rang from Kira, making everyone's hair stand on end and freeze in fear.

* * *

**The Finale has just arrived. How will this end for the gang? What will happen to Kira? Stay tuned for the final chapters of Silenced Darkness!**

End Of Chapter 14


	31. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: The Feared One

* * *

All eyes were wide as Kira rose to her feet and hearing her speak something much more omnious.

"Did you really think you could win?" She laughed. "When you compare yourself to someone who's been embedded with your power?" She opened her eyes to reveal the whites of her eyes pitch black and purple irises glowing.

"Where do you think your shadows all go to hide from the precious light?" She hissed. Her tentacles becoming longer and turning solid black as she slowly approached TarTar with the intent to murder. "Just who do you think stands against it and it's forces?"

She stopped for a minute as her tentacles picked up the roller of hers that was lodged into the ground. She looked down at it as she spoke again.

"What you possess is only a fraction of its true power." She looked up again as her gear turned to dark hero armor and black ink wings sprouted from her back. "The power you use to harm people is laughable to say the least."

TarTar shot at her. "Stay Back!"

Kira snickered. "Child's play." She used the roller to slice the ink shot in half, turning the roller into a scythe with black/purple ribbons on the handle.

TarTar was so shaken by the sight, and frankly, so was everyone else in the room. Mint, Akari, and Chili had to squid/octo form, drag Misery's unconscious body, and hide in a nearby place so they could still watch what happened to TarTar but keep a safe distance. Her laugh sent chills down their backs as they heard her speak the next lines with venom laced in every word spoken by the inkling.

"You cannot defeat me." She then started choking TarTar, laughing maniacally as she drained the life from him.

Mint and Akari trembled in their Octo Forms and Chili peeked out from the crate they were hiding behind, eyes wide as TarTar dropped to the ground, coughing and choking as Kira stood in front of him and grabbed the form by the throat and glared into the bottomless soul of his.

"I never want to see you ever again. I'm very tempted to rip your organs out and leave your body for the mice here." She grunted as she was kicked back, but grabbed her scythe and sliced and diced, he kept up surprisingly and she leapt up, her wings helping her hover and her eyes go pitch black as she unleashes an attack.

"**Midnight Nova!**" A large black and purple laced blast formed in her hands and shot it at TarTar, who was blasted into the wall and was almost certain to have been destroyed. The wall he was shot in caved directly on him, crushing him. Her eyes turned back to the glowing purple as she approached the rubble, knowing not to leave the body alive. But was quickly blasted back.

"You may be powerful... But I am not easy to kill!" He yelled.

Kira snarled. "You don't deserve to live, worthless Urchin." Her tentacles formed a large bubble around her and then was shot forward, popping it, energy spikes shot from it and almost punctured his skin.

"Give up." She said as she pressed the blade against his neck. "You cannot defeat me." A loud, ungodly shriek rings out as Kira was stabbed in the ribs by TarTar, she held the wounded rib and fell against the wall as she saw blood drip from her mouth.

Chili whispered under his breath, "She's in trouble, I have to help her..."

Mint grabbed his tentacle. "No! You'll get hurt out there! Please stay..." They begged.

Chili pulled away and crawled over into view to see TarTar approaching her injured body.

"Now it's time for you to unleash your power for me, and make the world fall."

"You won't..." She coughed. "Win..." She weakly kicked him back, getting back up on her feet and ramming the stick of the scythe into TarTar's face.

Chili leapt onto TarTar and started biting him in his squid form. Trying to choke him. "GET OFF HER!"

Kira's eyes went from black and violet to white and violet. "Chili!? What are you doing?"

The being threw Chili off into the wall, making Kira go ballistic.

"Chili!" She shouted and her tentacles wrapped around TarTar and tried beheading him. "You'll regret **EVER **touching my friends you piece of fucking SHIT!" After she choked him, she threw him into the sharp edges of what's left of the crystal and the body went limp as green blood leaked from TarTar's now dead body.

Kira ran over to Chili and cradled the squid. "Chili...Chili no... Chili wake up please..." She sobbed as she held Chili's squid form. "I'm so sorry... I'm sorry for everything..." She sniffled, wiping some blood from his beak.

Mint and Akari came out and looked upset seeing Kira cry. They all saw her cradling the squid's body, holding him close.

But signs of life began showing from Chili as he coughed and looked up to see Kira holding him in her dark form. He leapt out of her arms and went back to the group as her wings drooped and things seemed to be back to normal as she fell onto the floor and breathed hard.

Chili looked up as did the others, seeing Kira on the ground. The dark form faded away and she closed her eyes and let her body fall.

_Kira was down._

"Kira! Wake up!" Chili called.

Nothing but silence.

"**_KIRA!"_**

* * *

The silence was overwhelming. Kira couldn't bear it as she looked around the realm she was in. A dark, empty void.

She felt alone and helpless. But the calming voice that guided her to her destiny reached out to her.

_**You have saved your friends and have saved the world. But TarTar will return and will try and kill you.**_

_**The other half of the prophecy needs to be fulfilled in order to protect Inkopolis from the Parasites.**_

_**You need to find the Light Hero.**_

"B-But... How do I do that?!" She asked, worried.

_**They are much closer than you think, Kira. Discover who you are as a hero.**_

_**Grow, learn, and be the one the world looks to for comfort.**_

_**Because even though the darkness is blinding, the path of twilight you will help forge will become something even greater.**_

_**I must leave you. You are about to awaken from your slumber.**_

_**Remember: You and You alone must discover who you are as a hero.**_

_**Goodbye Kira, Dark Hero of Inkopolis.**_

"W-Wait! Please don't leave me! WAIT!"

* * *

**End Of Chapter 15**


	32. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: The Diverging Path

* * *

Kira sat up, eyes wide and in a cold sweat. Her entire body ached and she fell back into her bed.

_Wait... This is my bed. Am I at home?_

She felt bandages across her head like she did when she first had surgery, bandages around her chest and across the bleeding wounds on her back, and a huge stab wound in her ribs.

Mint and Akari were asleep on the couch downstairs and Chili had fallen asleep with his arms on her bed and his head resting on his arms. He had his face healed up and a few bandages on his left arm.

What caught her attention was Misery on the second bed next to her. Her wounds weren't as bad, but where they were placed certainly made Kira feel bad about herself.

She reached for her locket, but found it missing.

_M-My locket! Where did it-?_

She saw her golden heart locket clenched within Chili's fists. Carefully removing it from his grasp, she slipped it out and put it around her neck once more. she noticed that his eyes clenched tight and she tossed one of the spare blankets across his shoulders and sighed.

"This... This is all my fault, Chili." She whispered as she rubbed his back. "I'm so, so sorry about all of this.. I-If I didn't let myself get taken by those, those things... We would have never been in this to begin with." She started sobbing quietly as she saw him just sleeping there.

"Cod... Look at me: blubbering like a little hatchling..." She stopped her crying and tried taking her locket back from Chili, whom she forgot had an iron grip with certain things. She didn't expect her locket to be that important. Unless he already opened the locket and saw the picture inside.

Kira grunted as the pain kicked in again and fell back in the bed a little harder than she originally intended and Chili snapped wide awake at the motion.

"Kira? Are you okay?" He asked, looking at her.

She gritted her teeth from the pain. "Not really. Felt like I was stabbed by a diamond dagger."

He grabbed her pain medication and a glass of cold water. "Take this."

Kira didn't feel like arguing that she was fine. She took the meds like he asked and sat up a little more, but was lightly pushed back into the bed, forcing her to lay back.

"You're not leaving the bed. Not with those injuries." He said sternly and sat up on the bed with her.

Kira watched him with tired eyes. "I'm fine Chili... Just let me check on-"

"No. Kira. Stay." He said again.

"Chili-"

"**Stay.**"

Kira gave up and lied back like he wanted. Looking up at him. "You're that worried about me?"

He sighed, not ready to admit it to her. "After the stunt you pulled in the metro? Of course I was concerned." He turned to her again. "I'm guessing you're not ready to explain to me what exactly happened down there?"

She frowned. "It's almost impossible to recall by simply what I saw." She said to him. "It was all a lucid dream to say the least. Or a realistic night terror. Either way, it ended up with both you and Misery getting hurt."

Chili smirked a bit. "A little thing like that can't stop me."

Kira rolled her eyes at the inkling as she continued. "It was like some sort of... unknown force took a hold of me and channeled my inner rage at TarTar... He's dead now, but something tells me he's coming back."

"And we'll beat his ass for doing so." He told her. "We now have someone with god-like powers on our side and TarTar has every right to be afraid of that."

She shook her head. "There's more to it than that Chili. We have to find the other half of this prophecy. The Light Hero."

He raised an eyebrow. "Wait, you mean the scripts written in Octarian? If that's the case, then where do we look? Who do we turn to?"

Kira shrugged and coughed a bit, making her body lurch and Chili holding her slightly. After her fit, she continued. "That's something we don't know either. All we can do now is hope for the better."

Chili shrugged and leaned against the wall. "Aight. Whatever floats yer boat."

"But what about the Squidbeaks? What do we even tell them?" She asked.

Chili looked at Kira. "For another time, I think-" He looked for the gold locket of Kira's, which he saw around her neck.

"Were you looking for that?" She asked.

He nodded and then looked startled as he felt a small box in his hands. Raising a brow, he opened the box and looked so shocked/surprised as a sterling silver heart locket sat in the box with the same exact picture inside the locket.

"Surprise." She said, smiling a bit.

"D-Did you get this on purpose?" He asked, a small blush creeping up on his face. "Kiraaaa..."

"I got that just for you, ya know." She replied to him.

Still stunned by the kind gesture, he looked back and forth between the locket and his friend before he smiled a bit. "Thank you Kira, I'll treasure this..." He put the locket around his neck and looked as Kira got comfortable again.

"After all, I care about you more than I do Akari, and that's saying something." She told him with a chuckle, getting a bit quiet. "You're like a brother to me. And you, Mint, and Akari gave me something I could always cherish..." She gets ready to fall asleep before he hears her say,

"_A loving family..._"

Chili stared at her. Dumbfounded and silent until he felt a few tears streaming down his face. Before she could fully fall asleep, he quickly grabbed her into an embrace without hurting her.

"Fuck... Kira, I'm so sorry. I'm such an idiot sometimes and I've caused you so much pain in these past few days... I'm just a child. A big ol' dumb child. I'm sorry. I don't know how you can consider someone like me family... But fucking hell." He pulled away and looked her in the face, eyes puffy from crying and ears down, still holding her. "You're family to me too and I don't know what I would've done if you never came back from there..." He sniffled and face stained with tears, continuing despite looking worse than he did before. "So cod damnit, you better get better fast so that we can do this whole fucking family shebang properly, ya hear me?"

Kira returned the embrace and smiled wide, rubbing his back. "I'll get better ASAP. I promise"

Chili sniffled and wiped his face in embarrassment, even though it was too late. 'I'll take your word for it. And for the record," He gave her a gentle punch in the arm. "Don't think I don't care about you either. I wouldn't have risked my life fer ya if I didn't, dumbass."

She playfully punched back and laughed.

He chuckled. "I'm serious! For once." He pushed her face into her pillow. "Now sleep you mongrel."

Kira yelped, but smiled. "But I don't-" She yelped again as he pushed her face into the pillow.

"Shut up and sleep damnit." He repeated and got off the bed to let her sleep. He made his way to the bathroom just a few feet away from her room and closed the door, giving himself some time to calm down. Chili opened the locket and ran a finger across the glass surface.

_Can't believe you went all out despite your injuries. Good Cod you're even worse than I thought. _

After cleaning himself up, he returned to the bedside next to Kira and watched her, laying his head on his arms and lost in his thoughts.

_You... really do care about me, huh? _He looked at Kira and then the locket again before tucking her into the bed and letting his eyes slowly closing.

_I meant what I said to you earlier. I'm sorry... I'll do better for your sake..._

He looked at the photo once last time before he fell asleep in the awkward position.

_**I Promise...**_

* * *

_Silenced Darkness has officially come to a close! Woo! This was an amazing story to write and thanks a ton to Erujayy, for letting me write their characters in this amazing series._

_But the journey between the five has officially begun._

_Who will be the Light Hero?_

_When will TarTar rise again?_

_Stay tuned for the next book in the series._

**_Coming Soon..._**


End file.
